Last week, an undetected solar storm sent a wave of charged particles hurtling toward Earth. On the night of May 31st, those particles crashed into our planet's magnetic field and rattled the upper atmosphere, igniting the sky in an unanticipated burst of purple, pink and green.
Feast your eyes on this mind boggling view of the Northern Lights, captured in the pre-dawn hours of July 15th by photographer Brad Goldpaint.
Earth's magnetic field was pummeled by a double coronal mass ejection (CME) over the weekend, giving rise to more than 24 hours of geomagnetic storms and exceptionally beautiful northern lights. Here, astrophotographer Brad Goldpaint has captured a rare sight: a stunning pink aurora borealis.