Magnificent burst of colors: Northern Lights illuminate night sky in California, US

SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA, US - MAY 11: Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) illuminated the night sky over China Camp Beach in San Rafael, California, United States on early Saturday (May 11) as a rare and powerful geomagnetic storm hit Earth. The magnetic storm this weekend could spark power outages across the world, according to scientists. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) upgraded its original G4 geomagnetic storm watch to a G5 -- the most powerful storm of its kind on a scale from G1 to G5. The unusual atmospheric event began late Friday and is expected to last throughout the weekend. NOAA officials said the agency has not issued an alert of this magnitude in more than two decades, with the last G5 storm hitting Earth in October 2003. "Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth's surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations," NOAA said in a statement. Scientists explained that the northern lights are caused by disturbances in the magnetosphere that shoot solar flares and clouds of magnetic particles generated by the sun into space. The massive and powerful electromagnetic storms light up the sky with a magnificent burst of color. (Footage by Tayfun Coşkun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)