Northern lights dazzle Georgia skies in rare overnight display

Northern lights seen in North Georgia

Residents across North Georgia got a look at the northern lights. The Aurora Borealis is possible again Wednesday night. Here's what to look for.

ATLANTA - A rare sight lit up skies across North Georgia overnight, with the aurora borealis flickering just above the horizon in parts of Gainesville and Bartow County. Forecasters say there’s a slim but possible chance the northern lights could reappear late Wednesday night.

Northern lights in Georgia

What they're saying:

FOX 5 Storm Team meteorologist Alex Forbes said a powerful geomagnetic storm gave many Georgians a glimpse of something typically seen only near the Arctic Circle.

"It was a spectacle that many people across northern Georgia saw through, mainly their phones last night," Forbes said. "The Aurora Borealis, also known as the northern lights, from way up north, [was] able to be seen on the horizon if you were looking through your phone."

Images shared with FOX 5 showed faint shades of red and purple streaking across the night sky. "You really had to be looking through your phone lens and the light setting in order to see this," Forbes said while displaying viewer photos from Gainesville and Bartow County.

WATCH LIVE: Northern lights expected to put on a stellar show

What is the aurora borealis?

Dig deeper:

A series of coronal mass ejections from the sun has triggered a severe geomagnetic storm over North America. The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center rates the storm at G4, or severe, with potential for G5, or extreme, levels. Because of that, the aurora "view-line," or southern edge of visibility, has shifted much farther south than usual.

Auroras are normally confined to high latitudes, but strong solar storms can push them much farther south. Scientists say this week’s event allowed sightings as far down as Georgia and northern Florida.

Space-weather forecasters say the same solar storm that brightened skies across the northern United States made Georgia’s rare aurora display possible.

When to watch for the northern lights

What's next:

Forbes said the next opportunity to spot the lights could come between 9 p.m. and midnight, although conditions are less favorable than Tuesday night.

"To be completely honest with you, last night’s chance wasn’t the best chance in the world, yet we were still able to get them in a couple of locations," he said. "Tonight’s chance looks to be even lower, but not impossible."

The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center continues to monitor storm activity, though the strongest bursts appear to be easing.

Improve your aurora viewing

What you can do:

Forecasters recommend heading away from city lights to an area with a clear northern horizon. Cloud cover and light pollution will make visibility more difficult, especially across metro Atlanta.

Forbes said even if the naked eye doesn’t pick up much color, phones and cameras can. "If you happen to catch the Aurora Borealis, be sure to take a picture with it," he said. "You can do that using the night setting on your phone. A long-exposure picture also typically works the best."

He encouraged viewers to upload photos to the FOX 5 Storm Team app, where meteorologists will track additional sightings overnight.