Freak solar activity creates incredible Northern Lights which are seen as far south as Alabama


It's one of the world's most famous and spectacular solar phenomena, but those hoping to experience the Northern Lights usually have to travel to remotest Norway to witness their beauty.



But freak solar activity yesterday saw the stunning auroral display stretch much further than usual, as it was spotted by stunned stargazers across half of northern America.

The Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, are created by the sun's atmosphere, which blasts particles into the protective magnetic field surrounding the Earth.



Spectacular: Photographer Brian Emfinger spotted the Northern Lights in Arkansas and managed to capture the rare solar activity on camera

Solar experts believe the Northern Lights spread to parts of the U.S. as America was getting dark on a particularly clear night

Electrically-charged particles are thrown towards the Earth and carried on the solar wind towards the upper part of our planet's atmosphere.

When the particles are swept towards the poles and react with ions in the atmosphere, the result creates Mother Nature's amazing light show as vivid swathes of bright colour shoot across the night sky.

The most recent mass ejection of particles occurred when most of the U.S. was getting dark on a particularly clear night, leading to the spectacular light show witnesses in Washington D.C., Arkansas, Alabama and Virginia.

Amateur photographer Brian Emfinger was one of the stargazers who captured the rare occurrence after being alerted to the aurora show on SpaceWeather.com.



He said: 'I ran out and put my camera out and immediately saw reddish aurora.



'I ran out into the field, and within a few minutes the aurora went crazy!'



Mr Emfinger described how the aurora 'just went crazy' after appearing near his home in Arkansas yesterday evening

Experts reported that as well as Mr Emfinger spotting the aurora in Arkansas, the Northern Lights were also seen in Washington D.C, Virginia and Wisconsin

Others who witnessed the spectacle in America described seeing 'the blood-red Northern Lights aflame in the night sky'.



Photographer Randy Halverson, who saw a beautiful green and red aurora over Wisconsin, told MSNBC: 'At one point they were so bright they lit up the ground.'



The coronal mass ejection from the Sun hit Earth's magnetosphere at about 2 p.m. ET, SpaceWeather.com reported.

