'It was 3 hours of magic': Spectacular auroras thrill stargazers across the world (and internet) as intense geomagnetic storm batters Earth (photos) A powerful geomagnetic storm illuminated auroras that lit the skies over Earth on Thursday (Oct. 9) after X 2 solar flare that erupted from the sunspot AR 3848 on Tuesday (Oct. 8) evening. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GDk83iHWyq2EcgobUq8XbD.png https://www.space.com/spectacular-auroras-photos-thrill-skywatchers-from-geomagnetic-storm-october-2024