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LiveScience
LiveScience
Harry Baker

Rare streaks of light above US are a sign that solar maximum is fast approaching

These ethereal streaks of emerald light slowly drifted across the night sky above the West Elk Mountains in Colorado on June 21. (Image credit: Aaron Watson/Skies Alive Photography)

A photographer recently snapped images of vibrant green streaks of light hanging apparently motionless in the star-filled sky above a U.S. mountain range. The eerie light show may look like auroras, but it's actually an even rarer phenomenon.

Aaron Watson captured the stunning display near the West Elk Mountains in Colorado. The streaky emerald lights emerged just before midnight on June 21 and lasted for around 2 hours, during which they slowly shifted across the sky, Watson told Live Science in an email. Similar but less-intense versions of these lights were also spotted in other parts of Colorado, according to Spaceweather.com.

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