Aurora seen in New York on Oct. 2, 2013. The aurora was caused by a solar filament eruption on Sept. 30, 2013
On Sept. 30, 2013, the sun released an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME. On Oct. 2, 2013, the CME hit Earth’s magnetic field, causing a mild geomagnetic storm, which in turn caused aurora in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The geomagnetic storm caused northern aurora to appear further south than normal in more than a dozen northern-tier US states, including Oregon and New York. In the southern hemisphere, auroras were seen as far north as New Zealand.
This aurora image was taken by Joe Huff on October 2, 2013 at Lake Pleasant, NY, who commented this was a “Rare sighting in the southern Adirondack Mountains of NY.” Image Courtesy of Joe Huff.