PHOTOS: Northern Lights Put On A Show Over New England

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. (CBS) -- While most of New England slept Monday night, there was a colorful display in the skies for some parts of the region. The aurora borealis - also known as the Northern Lights - dazzled in New Hampshire, Maine and even parts of Massachusetts.

The northern lights are caused when solar energy from the sun collides with the Earth's magnetic field. A G2 geomagnetic storm grazing the higher latitudes of northern New England prompted the show.

The Mount Washington Observatory witnessed the green lights in the sky around midnight and shared photos to social media.

"For this shift currently on duty, it was everyone's first time viewing them in person!" the Observatory wrote in a post that's been shared more than 2,000 times on Facebook.

WBZ-TV Chief Meteorologist Eric Fisher noticed the brilliant green colors on Sebac Lake's starcam in central Maine.

And in Massachusetts, a photographer on Twitter captured some stunning pictures of the aurora in Goshen by Lower Highland Lake.

NOAA has extended its Geomagnetic Storm Watch into Tuesday based on the anticipated arrival of a solar flare.

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• Northern Lights