People across large parts of North America were looking to the skies this weekend for a rare look at the Northern Lights. Thanks to a powerful geometric storm, the aurora borealis could be seen from Canada to Southern California on May 10 and 11, 2024.

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The Northern lights or aurora borealis illuminate the night sky at the beach in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada, during a geomagnetic storm on May 12, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on May 10, 2024, triggering spectacular celestial light shows in skies from Tasmania to Britain, and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. Auroras are often observed in Canada’s northern regions, but rarely in southern Ontario.
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A woman photographs the Northern Lights at Chanticleer Point Lookout on the Columbia River Gorge in the early morning hours of May 11, 2024, in Latourell, Oregon. Places as far south as Alabama and parts of Northern California were expected to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, from a powerful geomagnetic storm that reached Earth.
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Onlookers gaze upon and photograph the Northern Lights at Chanticleer Point Lookout on the Columbia River Gorge in the early morning hours of May 11, 2024, in Latourell, Oregon.
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People pose for photos as a geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024, in Wendover, Utah.
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The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, is visible over Ann Arbor, Mich. early Saturday, May, 11, 2024.
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The aurora borealis fills the sky with pink and blue waves of color over a farmhouse in Mercer, Maine on May 11, 2024. The aurora borealis, commonly referred to as the northern lights, are electrically charged particles that interact with gases in outer space. This recent display was the strongest seen since 2003 rating a G5 on the geomagnetic scale.
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The northern lights fill the sky with green ribbons of electrical charged particles over the barn and pastures at Greaney’s Turkey Farm in Mercer, Maine on May 11, 2024.
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A woman watches the aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights on May 11, 2024, in Manning Park, British Columbia, Canada.
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The Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights are seen in Fredericton on Saturday, May. 11, 2024.
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People take photos of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, as they glow over Lake Washington in Renton, Wash. on Friday evening, May 10, 2024.
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An old tombstone stands against the northern lights at a cemetery early Saturday, May 11, 2024, near Skidmore, Mo.
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The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are seen as they glow over Lake Washington in Renton, Wash. on Friday evening, May 10, 2024.
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A geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024, in Wendover, Utah.
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A geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024, in Wendover, Utah.
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A person takes a photo of the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights in Vancouver, B.C. on Saturday, May 11, 2024. Brilliant purple, green, yellow and pink hues of the Northern Lights were reported worldwide, with sightings in Germany, Switzerland, London, the United States and Canada.
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The Northern lights fill the sky at the Bogus Basin ski resort on Saturday, May 11, 2024, in Boise, Idaho.
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A person takes a photo of the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights in Vancouver, B.C. on Saturday, May 11, 2024.
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The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, is visible over Homestead, Iowa, early Saturday, May 11, 2024.
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The northern lights flare in the sky over a farmhouse, late Friday, May 10, 2024, in Brunswick, Maine.
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The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, is visible over Lake Berryessa, Calif., early Saturday, May 11, 2024.
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Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights are seen in Vancouver, B.C. on Saturday, May 11, 2024.
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In this image taken with a long exposure, people look at the night sky towards the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Estacada, Ore. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm warning when a solar outburst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours sooner than anticipated. The effects were due to last through the weekend and possibly into next week.
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The blinking lights of a plane streak through the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, which is visible over Lake Berryessa, Calif., early Saturday, May 11, 2024.