DENVER — 9NEWS viewers sent incredible photos of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, that appeared over Canada and the northern United States Friday night.
A solar outburst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours sooner than anticipated, after NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G4 Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch. That's the first time the first time an advisory of that magnitude has been issued since January 2005.
The effects of the storm were due to last through the weekend and possibly into next week.
Sunday is expected to be the last night the aurora will be visible this far south. 9NEWS Meteorologist Chris Bianchi said northeast Colorado is the place to go be to see the aurora.
Bianchi says cloud coverage should clear up by 11 p.m. or midnight.
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Northern lights put on dazzling show over Colorado
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Photographing the aurora borealis
Photographers say the aurora borealis looks much dimmer to the naked eye in Colorado than it appears in photographs.
The key is to get a camera that allows you to adjust the length of time the iris is open during the capture. The longer the exposure, the more light there will be in the capture.
You will need a tripod when doing long-exposure photography because any movement of the camera while the iris is open will be recorded in the picture.
There has been some recent success in capturing the aurora with smartphones. Some have great low light settings or allow you to iris up a few levels manually before taking a picture.
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