When the particles interact with the gases in our atmosphere, they can produce light — blue and purple from nitrogen, green and red from oxygen.

It's not too often the skies are awash in pink and purple. But that's what happened on Thursday when northern lights soared over the Earth, sending stunning views into Germany, New York City and Tahoe.

The northern lights returned to skies across the U.S. and the world over Thursday night after a powerful solar storm triggered stunning celestial displays also known as aurora borealis. The big picture: Extreme G4 geomagnetic conditions were observed Thursday and remained overnight,

The Northern Lights captured people’s minds on Thursday night, not least those turning to memes to fill a void left by not having seen them. Across the world, stargazers stared up the green, blue, pink and purple light show,

The aurora borealis did not disappoint on Thursday night, with stargazers reporting seeing the stunning light show from across the U.S. — as far south as Texas and Florida — and Europe.