EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Skygazers were treated not only to the Perseid meteor shower early Monday morning, but also to a display of the Northern Lights.

A G3 (strong) storm was confirmed by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in response to a coronal mass ejection (CME) passing by Earth.

The aurora was seen as far south as Southern New England. Even 12 News Meteorologist T.J. Del Santo was able to capture some pictures.

A CME is a cloud of energetic and highly magnetized particles from the sun. The lights are caused by the interaction between those charged particles and gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Sometimes the aurora isn’t visible to the naked eye, but if you hold your cell phone camera up to the sky, you may get a better view of the colors. Find a dark sky, look to the north and let your eyes adjust to the darkness.

If you have photos of the Northern Lights, head to our website for a chance to be featured!

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