(NEXSTAR) — The sun has been especially active recently, sparking strong geomagnetic storms over the weekend. Conditions were just right, causing a “major disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field.”
The “disturbance” meant many got to see the northern lights dance (or at least shimmer) across the night sky. That includes those in Wisconsin and Minnesota — two states that frequently have at least a slim chance of seeing the northern lights — and as far south as California’s Yosemite and Joshua Tree national parks.
There’s no doubt that the northern lights can be mesmerizing for those of us on Earth.
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NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – AUGUST 12: Perseid meteor shower is observed as Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), colorful lights shift, illuminate the sky of New York, United States on August 12, 2024. (Photo by Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images) -
Wisconsin’s night sky is glowing with the Northern Lights, as a geomagnetic storm is bringing vibrant pink and green colors, stealing the spotlight from the Perseus meteor shower. (Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images) -
MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES – AUGUST 12: (EDITORS NOTE: This image was shot with a fisheye lens.) The northern lights (Aurora Borealis) illuminates the sky as a geomagnetic storm is bringing vibrant pink and green colors, during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower in Central Minnesota, United States on August 12, 2024. (Photo by Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images) -
Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) illuminate the sky above Joshua Tree National Park during the Perseids Meteor shower in Joshua Tree, California, early on August 12, 2024. Strong solar activity caused these dazzling celestial arrays to appear in lower latitudes around the world. (Photo by Apu GOMES / AFP) (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images) -
CALIFORNIA, USA – AUGUST 12: Perseid meteor showers and the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are captured in Yosemite National Park of California, United States on August 12, 2024. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
However, a handful of people 254 miles up in the sky may have gotten an even better view.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick shared a timelapse on X Monday, seen above, showing the moon set into the aurora.
Streams of green light appear to wave along the right side of the screen, opposite of a glowing pink area. Then, a vibrant red veil of light seems to grow over the green streams. As the video goes on, even more green streams appear before fading into the distance.
The video ends after the spacecraft is suddenly bathed in a blue light, which Dominick said was the sunrise.
What causes the colors in the aurora?
When plasma and magnetic material hurled out by the sun collides with Earth’s magnetic field, particles are sent flowing along currents to the North Pole and South Pole.
As they move, those particles interact with the oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere, creating excess energy. All that energy makes bursts of light that we see as the aurora, NASA explains.
The color those bursts appear as will depend on the gases involved and where the action is happening.
The green lights seen in the video above are the most common and occur when particles interact with oxygen between 75 and 110 miles in altitude. If oxygen and nitrogen are “excited by the incoming particles” at the same altitude, we can see blue aurora, NASA explains.
Slightly lower, 60 miles and below, an interaction with nitrogen will cause pink northern lights, like those seen on the opposite side of the green streams in Dominick’s video. Above 120 miles, interactions with oxygen spark red aurora.
Like mixing paint, when these colors blend, you may see purples, whites, and other shades of pink.
Our eyes aren’t always able to see the shimmering northern lights, even though we know they’re out there. However, your phone’s camera (as long as it’s newer) may capture it because they are often more sensitive than our eyes, according to Michael Bettwy, operations chief of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
Alix Martichoux contributed to this report.
