11 breathtaking photos of the Northern Lights over Chicago this past weekend

To the surprise of many, the Northern Lights—the natural spectacle that turns the sky all types of blue, green, yellow and orange at night—were fully visible from Chicago this past weekend.

According to experts, the Aurora borealis, the event's technical name, appeared on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Illinois as a result  of a geomagnetic storm that made them visible across other portions of the country as well, including Alabama and California.

If, by any chance, you missed the celestial display or perhaps didn't get to see it clearly enough, check out the photos below for a pretty awesome representation of what happened.

Fair warning, though: the images might take your breath away and convince you to hop on the next flight out to Iceland, Finland or Norway, where the Northern Lights are most commonly seen.