TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — Recently, Alabama got to enjoy a slice of the northern lights due to a solar storm hitting the earth.

The storm, which came from the sun’s plasma ejecting towards our atmosphere, is known as a coronal mass ejection, also known as a CME.

“Solar storms are usually when the charged particles of the sun are ejected with solar winds and travel towards earth and interact with our magnetic fields,” Alex Martin, Science Professor at Troy, said. “We see that as bright colorful colors that we see in our atmosphere.”

This storm was calculated as a CME of 5 and lit up skies all across the United States. Although the lights were not as easily visible for the South as they were for Northern residents, some students were still able to enjoy them.

“My friend texted me at 11:30 p.m, and was like, ‘Hey, you can see the northern lights from here’,” said freshman Sarah Campbell. “Me and my roommate ran across campus to the amphitheater to see the last little bit of it.”

CAMPUS COVERAGE: Students react to Daylight Saving Time change

The last reported solar storm of this nature was back in October of 2024. That storm had a level 8 CME. These storms have become consistent over the last two years, but that consistency may be coming to an end.

“Around 11 years on average is the solar cycle so we have minimums and maximums of solar activity and Right now we’ve been at the two year maximum period, so around 2024 and 2025, you have been able to see a peak in these larger CME’s that have allowed these lights to be seen even as far as Alabama,” Martin explained.

There is still potential for that storm to surge back up to a level 5 over the next few days.