Northern Lights Now – Geomagnetic storming resulting from a coronal hole high speed stream pushed the alert level to G3 (KP=7) this Mother’s Day weekend treating aurora hunters around the world to a beautiful display. The active period produced one period of G1 storming on May 6, then a much longer and stronger period lasting 21 hours started early on May 8 GMT. Take a look at the 3-hour measured KP graph from the SQPC in Boulder:

Brian Drourr, a Vermont photographer and friend of NLN, was taking this storm in from the Algonquin Radio Observatory in Ontario, Canada, when he captured one of the most iconic images of the active period. That photo, with the ARO in the foreground and stunning green and purple northern lights in the background, is the feature image for this post, and we thank Brian for allowing us to share it with you. You can find more information about Brian and his photos on his Facebook page

The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is a satellite that is capable of capturing the Aurora as it dances from space. This image shows the Mother’s day Northern Lights dancing over Central Canada and the upper midwest. If you look closely (click on the image to zoom) you will be able to see the Fort Macmurry fires in Alberta along the Saskatchewan boarder:
Here are some more great photos that came in from Twitter over the last couple days:
From Scott Rock over Lake Heron:
More Shots From May 7/8 2016 Mothers Day G3 Solar Storm over Lake Huron in SaugeenShores @NorthLightAlert @AuroraMAX pic.twitter.com/Ex8rHa2t5h
— Scott Rock (@digeratie) May 10, 2016
Some aurora with star trails from Laura Duchesne
Aurora & Startrails from the Mother's Day G3 #AuroraBorealis pic.twitter.com/sWeRCJUsVs
— Laura Duchesne ☄ (@LauraDuchesne) May 10, 2016
A few Beams from North Umberland by Own Humphreys:
A few beams from the #aurora #northumberland #NorthernLights @HadriansWall @EmperorHadrian #weather last night @PA pic.twitter.com/kT70zrRqjo
— Owen Humphreys (@owenhumphreys1) May 9, 2016
And Finally A time Lapse from Dave Patrick:
Aurora time Lapse – Mother's Day 2016 G3 solar storm – @TamithaSkov @eljakeo30 @AuroraMAX @HuffPostCanada @digeratie pic.twitter.com/cdeF3vBYNn
— Dave Patrick (@wwxchaser) May 8, 2016
Happy hunting!