Last night, some people in Michigan and in states as far south as Arkansas looked up and saw a spectacular aurora borealis display.
Here's a time lapse look at the lights that were visible last night near Martin, Michigan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIitTNFJ-vI
A photographer in Marquette, Michigan, Shawn Malone, told CBSNews.com that he was "surprised by the sheer brilliance of Monday night's northern light show":
"[I] had taken a few pics, went back to the car to change lenses, and when I looked up the sky was on fire," Malone said. "To the north there was this huge curtain that sent beams overhead to a corona in which I had to turn to the south to photograph. That's when I noticed the reds and pinks starting to happen. From there the lights were every which direction. It was hands down the best northern lights I've seen since the great storm of November 2004."
The northern lights are created when solar winds carry highly charged particles... so it's like when gases... you see, the Earth has a magnetic field...
Oh, forget it. Let's let the experts explain it with some cool video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT3J6a9p_o8
This sun storm, or Coronal Mass Ejection, started last Saturday and hit us yesterday afternoon around 2 p.m., according to Jeff Masters at Wunderground.com (Masters missed the event because he was busy explaining the northern lights to his twelve-year old neighbor over the phone).
Did you see them? Share your pictures with us in the comments below!
