Awesome aurora: Northern Lights put on a show

The Northern Lights, aka aurora borealis, put on a spectacular show across the northern part of the world Monday night.

Plenty of fantastic shots of the geomagnetic phenomenon appeared on social media from Sweden to Greenland to Canada and across the far northern parts of the U.S.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station even captured a few shots.

For centuries, the aurora borealis has fascinated those who see the phenomenon. The Northern Lights are caused when particles flowing from the sun are caught up in the Earth's magnetic field, NASA says.

These particles then interact with molecules of atmospheric gases to cause the famed glowing red and green colors of the aurora.

The lights are visible in both the far northern and southern parts of the world. (The southern lights are known as aurora australis.)