Stunning images of northern lights dazzle California
Photographer Katey Hamill took photos of the northern lights at Truckee’s iconic Rainbow Bridge on historic Highway 40. Oct. 10, 2024
TAHOE, Calif. - It's not too often the skies are awash in pink and purple.
But that's what happened on Thursday when northern lights soared over the Earth, sending stunning views into Germany, New York City and Tahoe.
"Mother Nature gave us a different kind of magic last night — the breathtaking Aurora Borealis," Northstar officials told KTVU, sharing images captured by photographer Katey Hamill at Truckee’s Rainbow Bridge on historic Highway 40.
KTVU photographer Jaden Schaul also created spectacular images of blue and purple skies near St. Helena.
Schaul said the aurora was on "full display" from his vantage point.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a severe geomagnetic storm alert on Wednesday after after an outburst from the sun was detected earlier in the week.
Such a storm increases the chance of auroras — also known as northern lights — and can temporarily disrupt power and radio signals.
NOAA’s Friday forecast shows continued higher-than-normal activity, but the chances for another overnight show are slim farther south of Canada and the northern Plains states.
The sun sends more than heat and light to Earth — it sends energy and charged particles known as the solar wind. But sometimes that solar wind becomes a storm. The sun’s outer atmosphere occasionally "burps" out huge bursts of energy called coronal mass ejections.
They produce solar storms, also known as geomagnetic storms, where particles can travel down the magnetic field lines along the north and south poles and into Earth’s atmosphere.
When the particles interact with the gases in the atmosphere, they can produce light — blue and purple from nitrogen, green and red from oxygen.
Solar activity increases and decreases in a cycle that lasts about 11 years, astronomers say. The sun appears to be near the peak of that cycle, known as a solar maximum. It’s not clear exactly when the cycle will begin to slow.
In May, the sun shot out its biggest flare in almost two decades. That came days after severe solar storms pummeled Earth and triggered auroras in unaccustomed places across the Northern Hemisphere.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Photo of aurora borealis taken near St. Helena by Jaden Schaul.
Northern Lights as seen from near St. Helena. Photo by Jaden Schaul.
Photographer Katey Hamill took photos of the northern lights at Truckee’s iconic Rainbow Bridge on historic Highway 40. Oct. 10, 2024