Auroras, a breathtaking celestial phenomenon, lit up the skies across vast stretches of the planet for the second night in a row. This remarkable display came after Earthlings from the United States to Tasmania and the Bahamas witnessed the dazzling spectacle the previous day.
A powerful solar storm, which has the potential to continue into Sunday, has unleashed these spectacular celestial shows, which are usually confined to the far northern reaches of the planet, hence their nickname, the “northern lights.”
“I have the sensation of living through a historic night in France… It was really charged, with solar particles and emotions,” wrote Eric Lagadec, an astrophysicist at the Observatoire de Cote d’Azur, on social media after the first night of auroral displays.
People in the United States, particularly in the northern regions, reported sightings on Saturday evening, although the intensity was not as strong as Friday night’s displays.
The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs), expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun, occurred just after 1600 GMT Friday, according to the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).
This solar storm was later upgraded to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm, the first since the “Halloween Storms” of October 2003 that led to power outages in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. Friday’s storm was classified as level five geomagnetic conditions, the highest on the scale. Saturday saw G3 to G5 conditions, with G4 or higher conditions predicted for Sunday and G3 conditions possible into Monday.
Despite initial concerns from authorities, no significant disruptions to power or communication networks have been reported this time around.
Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite internet operator has about 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, stated that his satellites were “under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far.” However, China’s National Center for Space Weather issued a “red alert” Saturday morning, warning that the storm would impact communications and navigation in most areas of the country, according to state news agency Xinhua. Media reports indicate that auroras were visible in the northern half of China.
Worldwide, people marveled at the beautiful auroras, capturing stunning images of otherworldly pink, green, and purple night skies. From Mont Saint-Michel on the French coast, to Payette, Idaho in the western United States, and even Tasmania, the island state of Australia, excitement spread across the globe.
Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in about eight minutes, CMEs travel at a slower pace, with officials estimating the current average at 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second. The CMEs originated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our planet. People with eclipse glasses can also observe the sunspot cluster during the day.
The Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings increased activity. NOAA’s Brent Gordon encouraged the public to attempt capturing the night sky with phone cameras, even if they couldn’t see auroras with their naked eyes. “You’d be amazed at what you see in that picture versus what you see with your eyes,” he said.
Geomagnetic storms, with their fluctuating magnetic fields, can induce currents in long wires, including power lines, potentially leading to blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, causing engineering issues. Spacecraft are also at risk from high radiation doses, although the atmosphere shields Earth from this radiation.
NASA has a dedicated team monitoring astronaut safety and can request that astronauts on the International Space Station relocate to better shielded areas within the outpost. Even species like pigeons, which have internal biological compasses, may be affected. During geomagnetic storms, pigeon handlers have noticed a decrease in birds returning home, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The most intense geomagnetic storm on record, known as the Carrington Event after British astronomer Richard Carrington, occurred in September 1859.
