Here is a vertical view, for scale, of the amazing auroral band that hovered south of Norman’s latitude for a couple hours in mid-spring 2024. Clearly visible aurorae at this latitude are quite rare, truly a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence for many, the second for me, and the first since I’ve shot digital. This display glowed from the impact on earth’s upper atmosphere of an X-class flare and full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun, as part of the strongest geomagnetic storm to envelop Earth since 1989, a G5 whopper. This event somehow did not cause substantial disruptions to the electrical grids, partly to the credit of much-improved space-weather predictions allowing operators to prepare for the added load. North of this arc aurora, some glow aurora was visible for a few hours as well. Auroral effects appeared as far south from the North Magnetic Pole as parts of the Florida Keys, Mexico and Jamaica, and as far north from the South Magnetic Pole as New Caledonia and southern Brazil.
Norman OK (10 May 24) Looking S