Are the northern lights visible as far south as Florida?

Turns out the answers is yes, even as far south as Florida’s Space Coast — thanks to a powerful solar storm Tuesday.

Many across Florida did not believe their eyes as the sky glowed the night of Nov. 11 when the northern lights reached all the way to the southern most states. People from Merritt Island and Titusville began to post photos of the sky glowing red as the aurora danced in the sky.

This aurora was due to charged particles from the sun interacting with Earth’s atmosphere as a result of high solar activity. But it’s not always visible without the help of a camera − even in northern states.

While it was only detectable by camera at first, around 11:30 p.m. Nov. 11 the northern sky over Brevard County glowed a red hue which was visible to the eye even under light pollution. It was not just on the horizon either − these lights climbed high into the sky.

Moderate solar activity had been predicted, but it was not anticipated that an aurora would travel as far south.

USA Today reported on Nov. 11 that the latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aurora forecast map showed the lights only having a chance of reaching as far south as Pennsylvania. That was quickly proven to be underestimated as the aurora danced into the southern states as night fell.