Northern Lights Explode Across North America
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A giant mass of plasma spat from the sun on Saturday morning hit the Earth Monday afternoon, causing an unusually colored light show that dazzled skywatchers. (Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)
Mother Nature's majesty was on display following a coronal mass ejection (CME) that hit the planet at approximately 2:00p.m. EDT on October 24, reported <a href="http://Spaceweather.com" target="_blank">Spaceweather.com</a>, a website dedicated to tracking solar wind, solar storms and other interstellar events. (Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)
The impact strongly compressed Earth's magnetic field, the site reported, exposing geosynchronous satellites to solar wind plasma -- and sparking a dazzlingly intense geomagnetic storm. (Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)
"Wow, wow, wow! These were the best Northern Lights I've seen since 2004," said Shawn Malone. The photographer told FoxNews.com that the auroras he spied in Northern Michigan were the best in years. (Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)
Spaceweather.com reported aurora sightings stretching across the <a class="r_lapi" href="http://www.foxnews.com/topics/u.s.htm#r_src=ramp">United States</a>, from New <a class="r_lapi" href="http://www.foxnews.com/topics/mexico.htm#r_src=ramp">Mexico</a> and California to Kansas, Iowa, Maryland and New York. (Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)
<a href="http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/">The event reached the G1 level</a> on NASA's space weather scale for geomagnetic storms, the lowest level on a five point scale. When such storms reach G5 levels, NASA warns to watch for problems with the electricity grid and problems with spacecraft and satellites. (Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)
Weak power grid fluctuations may have occurred overnight as a result of the G1 storm Monday evening. (Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)
Many skywatchers in the deep south reported seeing unusual red color in the sky, a rare and not fully understood event that sometimes appears during intense geomagnetic storms, Spaceweather said. (Shawn Malone / LakeSuperiorPhoto.com)