Soon after sunset Tuesday the first news of the northern lights began filling up the social media networks. Many people left towns to avoid the artificial light pollution and experience the shimmering multicolored waves washing across the starry sky. Many admitted to seeing the phenomenon for the first time in their lives.
Elektronu un protonu nakts izklaides Saulkrastos, 17./18.03.2015. #AuroraBorealis pic.twitter.com/pIhHc7xHiK
— Edmunds Račinskis (@dabasSkanas) March 17, 2015
#Liepājā ziemeļblāzma! pic.twitter.com/tQTJ1dsSwn
— Liepāja (@liepajalv) March 17, 2015
Kaut gan nedaudz nokavēju izvilkšanos no mājas, arī fināls bija brīnišķīgs. Ziemeļblāzma. pic.twitter.com/KoVaqWbdsT
— Sergejs Bižāns (@mrserge) March 18, 2015
The magnetic storm was the most powerful one to hit the Earth in many years, pulling the Aurora down farther south than is usually the case. Witnesses in Poland, Great Britain, the Netherlands and even the Alps region reported seeing the northern lights.
Aurora borealis (northern lights) tonight near Warsaw, Poland! pic.twitter.com/PaFNJDIOwc
— Zbigniew Siciarz (@zsiciarz) March 17, 2015
There's a stunning aurora over Crowborough, East Sussex tonight. The view from the Wetherspoons car park is magical. pic.twitter.com/nLfMzMGqNg
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) March 17, 2015