NOAA National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Time exposure of the Aurora Borealis November 2001 as seen from Vincennes, Indiana. The Aurora Borealis or more commonly called "Northern Lights" are thought to be the result of high charged solar particles interacting with the Earth's electromagnetic field. Higher than normal solar activity allowed the "Northern Lights" to be seen much further south than normal during October and November 2001. The "Northern Lights" typically reveals itself as a ghostly green or red hue of semi-transparent light, but all of the colors of the light spectrum have been observed with aurora activity in the past. This photo is courtesy of Sam Sievers, a COOP observer at Vincennes.