Photos: Spectacular aurora from severe solar storm light up northern skies

Aurora over Pernaja, Southern Finland, March 17, 2015 ( <a href="http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=110029">Kaj Skogstrom via SpaceWeather.com</a> )

The St. Patrick’s Day geomagnetic storm, the most intense since fall of 2013, spurred dazzling aurora before and after sunset, and then finally faded.

[Severe geomagnetic storm spurs beautiful aurora (Photos)]

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On Tuesday evening, forecasts indicated a slight chance aurora would be viewable as far south as the Mid-Atlantic, but the farthest south we’ve seen reports were in Illinois, Ohio and northern New Jersey – which is nonetheless quite unusual.

Some of the most dramatic aurora were seen in Iceland and northern Europe. Parts of the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, even, were treated to an amazing light show. And the Southern Hemisphere was not left out. Beautiful aurora were spotted in New Zealand and Australia, too.

Here’s a selection of photos from Twitter, Facebook, and the SpaceWeather.com gallery – a tremendous resource for aurora photos.

United States

Alaska

Illinois

Massachusetts

Maine

Check out the #NorthernLights last night? We braved the elements to get the shot. Worth it. #theloaf #AuroraBorealis pic.twitter.com/IiLlNv4NgY
— Sugarloaf Mountain (@SugarloafMaine) March 18, 2015

WOW! 5 image panorama of the #aurora display around 10PM in central Maine last night via Mike Taylor pic.twitter.com/8Yct8RBBL8
— Ed Piotrowski (@EdPiotrowski) March 18, 2015

Michigan

Wow! MT @LAKSuperiorFoto: This morning's auroras from #Marquette, MI. @TravelMarquette pic.twitter.com/7kgfFhEOsb
— Pure Michigan (@PureMichigan) March 18, 2015

New Jersey

Very rare sighting of the Northern Lights in New Jersey. Thx to Kevin in Bloomingdale. #njmorningshow @News12NJ pic.twitter.com/zjYMLunOr8
— Kurt Siegelin (@kurtsiegelin) March 18, 2015

New York

One of our most prolific photographers traveled to the Catskills for the #aurora. Well done, Jennifer Khordi! pic.twitter.com/7W0G4285Hn
— JSHN (@JSHurricaneNews) March 18, 2015

#AURORA Northern Lights. Thank you Melanie Kern-Favilla
Picture from Cedar Beach parking lot in Mt Sinai. @news12li pic.twitter.com/wkX2TqkRm4
— RichHoffmanWeather (@hoffmanrich) March 18, 2015

Ohio

Not my best shot of the night sky but you could see the color from the Northern Lights :) took this in Gallia Co Ohio pic.twitter.com/xqa7rqOcTR
— Joshua Murdock 📷 (@MurdockPhotosWx) March 18, 2015

Wisconsin

Last night's aurora MT @eljakeo30: Tuesday 9:30pm. Hartford, Wisconsin #wiwx #swiwx pic.twitter.com/dbID6PT7ft
— Jeff Last (@JeffLast) March 18, 2015

Europe

Iceland

Epic aurora over Iceland (Joe Capra). pic.twitter.com/yiKozgvHrX
— Andrew Rader (@marsrader) March 18, 2015

Finland

Awesome St. Patrick’s Day aurora – March 17 – from Pekka Isomursu in Finland.
More photos: http://t.co/gU0nNu1ei2 pic.twitter.com/o3ermcD8aN
— EarthSky (@earthskyscience) March 18, 2015

Germany

Norway

Northern lights over Norway
Credit: B. Krogen http://t.co/rf6Q2HrKx3 #aurora #norway pic.twitter.com/3wONhqExM5
— Observing Space (@ObservingSpace) March 17, 2015

Poland

Sweden

United Kingdom

Sightings of the Aurora Borealis, commonly known as northern lights, were reported across Europe including near Penmon Point, Wales. (Video: CJ Barr via YouTube)

Did you see the #AuroraBorealis last night? @MaggieMacleod took this amazing photo! More pics http://t.co/bKQgmfzgmv pic.twitter.com/SiXjwa6piQ
— Met Office (@metoffice) March 18, 2015

Aurora Borealis dazzles in the night sky over the UK http://t.co/ULIOQzpRZD pic.twitter.com/eWjg5u1bZ0
— Mashable (@mashable) March 18, 2015

This is #aurora in Derry, Ireland earlier? MT @MiroCollas @PzFeed @PzFeed: Aurora Borealis. (@DerryPhotos) pic.twitter.com/4lBhWIMkoo
— Dr. Tamitha Skov (@TamithaSkov) March 18, 2015

Southern Hemisphere

Australia

Unreal! MT @ClearSkiesTV: Aurora filled Australian skies last night. See VIDEO in real time https://t.co/MizkU7f5Zs pic.twitter.com/NUS9axZewY
— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) March 18, 2015

AMAZING photos of last night's #aurora from Australia via @BOM_au Facebook http://t.co/xNaTijOK4t pic.twitter.com/kJlOsnDI9w
— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) March 18, 2015

New Zealand

Sightings of the Aurora Australis were reported across parts of Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday, March 17. This footage is shows the aurora near Christchurch, New Zealand. (Video: Steven Graham via YouTube)

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