Solar storms created a dazzling display of auroras this week, beginning Tuesday night.

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, and southern lights, or aurora australis, danced in the skies across regions where they are rarely witnessed.

The auroras were caused by energetic particles released by the sun during severe solar storms on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A variety of colors appeared in the night sky as the particles hit Earth's magnetic field and interact with gases in the atmosphere.

The reddish hue of the northern lights can be seen over the town of Valtournenche, located in Italy's Aosta Valley, on Wednesday, November 12.
The reddish hue of the northern lights can be seen over the town of Valtournenche, located in Italy's Aosta Valley, on Wednesday, November 12.
Matterhorn Ski Paradise And Feratel/Reuters
The northern lights were spotted in the skies of Menominee County, Michigan, on Wednesday evening.
The northern lights were spotted in the skies of Menominee County, Michigan, on Wednesday evening.
Valine Kobasic
The aurora borealis danced in the skies over St. Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay on the northeast coast of England on Wednesday.
The aurora borealis danced in the skies over St. Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay on the northeast coast of England on Wednesday.
Owen Humphreys/PA Images/Getty Images
A rainbow of colors triggered by severe solar storm activity can be seen in the night sky over Monroe, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, November 11.
A rainbow of colors triggered by severe solar storm activity can be seen in the night sky over Monroe, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, November 11.
Ross Harried/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Pink and green streaks caused by energized particles from the sun interacting with gases in Earth's atmosphere can be seen over Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Tuesday.
Pink and green streaks caused by energized particles from the sun interacting with gases in Earth's atmosphere can be seen over Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Tuesday.
Steven Garcia/NurPhoto/AP
The colorful light and shape of auroras shift like curtains blowing in the breeze, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center, much like the northern lights visible over Monroe, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
The colorful light and shape of auroras shift like curtains blowing in the breeze, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center, much like the northern lights visible over Monroe, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
Ross Harried/NurPhoto/Getty Images