Vibrant northern lights paint the suburban skies

The northern lights have made an impressive appearance across the suburbs this week, and more could be on the away.

In towns including Schaumburg, Carpentersville, Huntley and Crystal Lake, intense colors overtook the horizon for hours Tuesday. Red and green painted the sky shortly after 7 p.m., setting off alerts on aurora borealis cellphone apps. Social media was buzzing with residents uploading photos.

Produced by severe solar storms, the colorful display was visible not only across most of the northern United States, but as far south as Arkansas and Alabama.

Over the past few days, the sun has emitted several bursts of energy called coronal mass ejections. At least two reached Earth as of Tuesday.

There was some impact on GPS communications and the power grid, Shawn Dahl with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a video posted on X.

The uptick in solar activity also forced NASA on Wednesday to postpone the launch of Blue Origin’s new rocket carrying Mars orbiters.

How bright the auroras are and how far south they are visible depends on when the solar bursts get here and how they interact with Earth's atmosphere.

According to The Associated Press, the sun is at the maximum phase of its 11-year activity cycle, making the light displays more common and widespread.

Aurora displays are commonly visible near the poles, where charged particles from the sun interact with Earth’s atmosphere. But skygazers are spotting the lights deeper into the United States and Europe because the sun is going through a major face-lift. Every 11 years, its magnetic poles swap places, causing magnetic twists and tangles along the way.

Last year, the strongest geomagnetic storm in two decades slammed Earth, producing light displays across the Northern Hemisphere. And soon afterward, a powerful solar storm dazzled skygazers far from the Arctic Circle when dancing lights appeared in unexpected places including Germany, the United Kingdom, New England and New York City.

The sun’s active spurt is expected to last at least through the end of this year, although when solar activity will peak won’t be known until months after the fact, according to NASA and NOAA.

· Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.