St. Patrick's Day 2015 Northern Lights (Photo : Canadian Space Agency)
Seemingly apt for the occasion, the skies are painted green on St. Patrick's Day thanks to Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.
The astronomical phenomenon was seen in Washington Colorado Oregon, the Dakotas, New Jersey and New York. Other countries such as U.K., Canada, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Finland also witnessed the spectacular display of lights.
The said phenomenon is due to a solar storm that is happening on Earth since Tuesday that is caused by the sun's corona. It is claimed as one of the most powerful solar storms in years.
"A G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm was observed today at 07/1358 UTC (09:58 am EDT). This is the response to a pair of CMEs observed leaving the Sun on 15 March. Shown here is a model depiction of where the aurora is likely visible. Storm conditions are forecast to persist for the next several hours before beginning to wane down towards the end of the UT day," according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
However, the intensity of the solar storm in the United States is pretty low making the skies appear green.
Aurora Borealis is a natural atmospheric phenomenon wherein charged particles in the atmosphere are ionized and move fast causing the display.
"Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow," the Northern Lights Centre said.
Various observatories worldwide anticipated the event and some of them held live streams of the said phenomenon. If you miss this because you were partying hard on St. Patrick's Day, the Canadian Space Agency condensed its footage of the Aurora Borealis. Meanwhile, Slooh Community Observatory documented the phenomenon in Iceland.
The solar storm happened days ahead of the total solar eclipse happening on Mar. 20 wherein the earth will experience a blackout for a while as the moon will obscure the sun.
