Northern Lights visible on Eastern Shore

Pictured: the Northern Lights at Vaucluse. June Sabbatini picture.

The Northern Lights were visible on the Eastern Shore Thursday evening.

Social media was aflutter with pictures from all up and down Accomack and Northampton Counties, showing various hues of pink and green.

The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are natural light displays primarily seen in polar regions. They occur when charged particles from the sun collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere, creating vibrant colors in the sky, typically green, pink, and purple.

Auroras are most commonly seen near the magnetic poles, such as Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia. However, the intensity of the Northern Lights is influenced by the solar cycle, with more frequent displays during periods of high solar activity, known as solar maximums.

That is why they were visible on the Eastern Shore Thursday evening. According to NOAA, a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the Sun Tuesday evening, and arrived at Earth last night. NOAA issued a G4(Severe) Storm Watch, which it says is very rare.

While some images were stunning, the view to the naked eye was much less spectacular. You can see the Northern Lights, but they often appear dimmer than in photographs. The human eye has limitations in perceiving colors and brightness in low-light conditions. The auroras can be faint and washed out by other light sources, making them harder to see without a camera.

Enjoy the listener submitted pictures below: