KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — People across East Tennessee were treated to nature's biggest light show Thursday evening — the Northern Lights.
NBC reported that skywatchers in states as far south as Alabama may have had the chance to see the auroras during a "severe" geomagnetic storm. It said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center said plasma and other materials from the sun reached Earth at around 11:17 a.m. Eastern Time.
The storms happen when eruptions from the sun, otherwise known as coronal mass ejections, hurl plasma. That plasma then interacts with Earth's magnetic field, producing the radiant displays that are normally seen in parts of the planet closer to the North Pole and South Pole.
NBC reported that the geomagnetic storm could last through Friday.
