Particles screaming into Earth’s atmosphere from the sun created beautiful northern lights across northern high latitudes of our planet late Sunday (Aug. 7) and early Monday (Aug. 8).
Skywatchers in Canada and the United Kingdom were among those that got to enjoy the stunning auroras, generated after charged particles blasted from the sun and interacted with Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Great to have another visit from the Northern Lights, aka Aurora Borealis here at Brancaster Staithe in North Norfolk early this morning between 1230am and 1250am @ChrisPage90 @WeatherAisling @AngliaWeather @itvweather pic.twitter.com/DaMS89kSn4August 8, 2022
“Great to have another visit from the northern lights, a.k.a. Aurora Borealis here at Brancaster Staithe in North Norfolk early this morning,” Gary Pearson, a photographer near the northeastern coast of Britain, tweeted (opens in new tab) of the storm.
Thousands of kilometers away in Manitoba, Canada, the storm created shimmers of purple and green on the horizon. “Amazing colors and structures,” tweeted (opens in new tab) Deb Maluk after witnessing the storm there.
Related: Hyperactive sunspot just hurled a huge X-class solar flare into space
@aurora dancing over the canola fields in Southern Manitoba just after midnight…amazing colours and structures! @TamithaSkov @AuroraNotify @TweetAurora pic.twitter.com/eakbGIj9gsAugust 7, 2022
Here’s the moment the Northern Lights really lit up over Exmoor last night. Taken at around 00:50BST (just as the @AuroraWatchUK red alert was issued).#astrophotography #aurora pic.twitter.com/grtcLMQU6zAugust 8, 2022
The event was a “surprise geomagnetic storm,” SpaceWeather stated (opens in new tab), after a stream of solar particles hit the Earth on Sunday. The velocity sped up to 373 miles a second (600 km/s), which was enough to cause a moderate-sized G2 class storm despite it not being forecast.
If you need equipment to capture the best aurora, consider our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography to make sure you’re ready. We also have a beginner’s guide on how to photograph the aurora.
If you captured a stunning photo of the northern lights let us know! You can send in images and comments to Space.com by emailing [email protected]. Be sure to let us know your name, where you were observing from and what it was like to see the auroras.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.
