Weather

North Texas Northern Lights Captured During Solar Storm

The aurora borealis lit up parts of the North Texas sky on Thursday night and here are some pics to prove it.
By Kelly DearmoreOctober 11, 2024
Photographer Phil Ostroff captured this image of the northern lights at his observatory in Central Texas.

Phil Ostroff
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It seems as though 2024 might go down as one of the more eventful years for North Texans who like to keep their eyes on the skies. The April total solar eclipse was indeed a spectacular sight to behold, and people in North Texas had a somewhat rare chance, although not as rare as a total solar eclipse, to catch a glimpse of the northern lights in May.

Well, it happened again.

On Thursday morning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration didn’t seem hopeful that Texans, or just about any other southerners, would have much of a chance to see the results of what it was calling a pretty significant geomagnetic storm. But that changed as the day dimmed into night, and night owls all over North Texas stepped outside to take it all in.

Another gorgeous shot of the northern lights from Sanger on Thursday night.

Sara Button

Local photographer and occasional Observer contributor, Sara Button, snapped a few pics from Sanger in Denton County a little before 10 p.m. on Thursday. A soft, thick streak of purple on top of a bed of midnight blue was brightly dotted with stars for an absolutely dreamlike effect.

“My 13-year-old and I drove out to Sanger to get away from the city lights in Denton, as we have a bunch of city street lights in our neighborhood,” she said. “We drove north on [Farm-to-Market] 2164 for about 8 minutes and pulled into a gravel lot. There were other people there admiring the sky. We couldn’t see [the northern lights] without a long exposure on my phone, but after I got a couple shots, both the kid and I were giggling in amazement.”

According to the NOAA and Forbes, there’s still a chance sky watchers can see the aurora borealis tonight.

Check out some other pictures from the northern lights in North Texas.

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Kelly Dearmore is news editor of the Dallas Observer. He’s held the position since November 2022. Since joining the team, Kelly has covered topics such as state and local politics, crime and public safety, education and immigration. A native Texan, Kelly has contributed to other publications including Texas Monthly, Dallas Morning News, Success Magazine and Cowboys & Indians Magazine.

kelly.dearmore@dallasobserver.com
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