People caught rare glimpses of the Northern Lights, and the pictures are breathtaking

There are few things more visually stunning than the aurora borealis. And this past Saturday, people caught a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights, and their pictures are breathtaking.

The Northern Lights are a naturally occurring phenomenon.

But they’re not always visible to the naked eye.

Essentially, they’re solar storms that originate at the sun. Charged particles then create these visually stunning light shows. It’s better than anything you’d see at a planetarium. The reason behind it is a super technical science explanation. But there’s one thing that is for sure, if you are lucky enough to see it happening, you’re in for an absolute treat.

Usually, you can only see the aurora borealis from much higher north, like Iceland.

There is also a similar occurrence in the south, but it doesn’t get nearly as much love as the Northern Lights.

The charged particles are pulled by the north and south poles into the upper atmosphere.

When they collide with the neutral particles in the atmosphere, the sky begins to glow and thus, we have the Northern Lights!

When they are pulled into the lower atmosphere, that is usually when people are best able to see them.

Lucky people in the northern US (think Massachusetts, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota), Canada, and parts of northern Europe were able to see Saturday night’s display. There was a solar storm advisory that predicted a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) which would push the storm further south so that more people would be able to see them.

So they saw, they snapped, and they shared.

Naturally, people took to sharing their beautiful photos on Twitter from all over the world.

The are some of the most breathtaking Northern Lights photos you can see. And not all of them are professional. But that’s a testament to how beautiful the Lights really are.

These stunning pictures remind you of just how magical the world really is.