The sky above Mesa County glowed brilliant shades of red, orange and green Tuesday evening as charged particles from a major solar storm reached Earth’s atmosphere.

Residents from Palisade to Fruita to Glade Park captured images of the aurora borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. Western Colorado Astronomy Club President Nancy McGuire was one of those people who witnessed and photographed the event.

“Despite being an amateur astronomer for many years, it was my first time to witness it where you could actually see the color in the sky,” McGuire said. “The human eye is not as sensitive as a camera, so very often for humans the sky might appear like a glowing white color or some white bands of light. This was a clearly visible bright red sky, like a pulsating red sky.”

According to

See Full Page