Environment
Why the Aurora Borealis Was (Briefly) Visible in the Contiguous U.S.
An ongoing geomagnetic storm is sending shimmering waves of light deep into North America.
First-time visitors to Michigan, Maine, and other northern states might've woken up this morning preparing for an alien abduction. The skies were afire with wild colors of purple, pink, and green, thanks to an ongoing geomagnetic storm that has sent the aurora borealis shimmering below the Canadian border.
The astral extravaganza is likely due to the sun popping off solar flares and coronal mass ejections on Valentine's Day – a sight that in its own right is rather impressive, as evident in this image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory: