ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Northern Lights dazzled in areas visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway last week.

The aurora borealis, typically associated with places like Canada, Alaska and Iceland, made it this far south because of a severe geomagnetic storm, the National Weather Service says. 

The light show happened Thursday night into Friday morning, and stargazers were quick to capture it. 

“This is very rare for our area,” the NWS posted.

Asheville Pictures photographed the event, including a time-lapse between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. 

The NWS describes the Northern Lights as the result of interactions between the sun and Earth’s outer atmosphere.