2024-05-14 00:21:47
Scientists do not rule out possibility of new polar lights lighting up the skies from various areas of the planet for the second consecutive night this Saturday, after having dazzled residents from the United States to Tasmania, Chile and Argentina the day before.
This phenomenon is caused by the ejections of particles from the Sun, which trigger geomagnetic storms when they reach the Earth.
The conditions of a level 5 storm, the maximum of the scale used for these phenomena, were observed shortly after 4:00 p.m. GMT on Friday and still early Saturday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States.
The extremely rare event has allowed residents of several countries to observe spectacular polar auroras, whose photos of the sky illuminated with blue, pink or orange colors have gone viral on social networks.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), dependent on the NOAA, new auroras could be visible “in much of the United States” on the night of Saturday to Sunday.
The SWPC, which called the event “historic,” issued a Level 4 or higher storm warning for Sunday, and indicated possible Level 3 conditions through Monday.
NOAA had classified the first geomagnetic storm as “extreme”, since it is the most powerful since October 2003, when several plasma explosions from the solar corona caused blackouts in Sweden and damage to energy infrastructure in South Africa.
Few disturbances
Although the authorities are alert for possible consequences on electrical and communications networks, no major disturbance has been observed so far.
Only some “preliminary” information was reported about “irregularities in the electrical grid” as well as a “weakening of high-frequency communications, GPS and possibly satellite navigation,” according to the SWPC.
Billionaire Elon Musk, whose Starlink internet service has thousands of satellites in low orbit, said on the social network X that “the satellites are under a lot of pressure, but they are holding up for the moment.”
Regarding air traffic, the US air regulator (FAA) had said on Friday “not to expect significant consequences” and advised airlines and pilots to “anticipate” possible disturbances to navigation instruments from geomagnetic storms.
China’s National Space Weather Center issued a “red alert” on Saturday morning warning that the storm is expected to continue throughout the weekend as it will affect communications and navigation in most parts of the country, it reported. the state news agency Xinhua.
Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in eight minutes, these ejecta travel at a slower pace of 800 km per second.
Magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long conductors, including cables, which can cause blackouts.
This phenomenon can even affect pigeons and other species that have internal biological compasses.
“Come out tonight and look”
An effect that amazed people around the world were the polar lights – known as boreal or austral, depending on the hemisphere – in latitudes where they are not usually visible.
Powerful solar storms can ‘push auroras to more southern latitudes’according to the US space agency NASA. Currently, the Sun is near its maximum activity, a cycle that repeats every 11 years.
“I have the feeling of living a historic night in France (…). It was really loaded with solar particles and emotions,” Eric Lagadec, an astrophysicist at the Côte d’Azur observatory, said in X. And “since you’re asking me, yes, auroras are still possible tonight,” he added.
Mathew Owens, professor of space physics at the University of Reading, in the United Kingdom, explained to AFP that the effects will be visible mainly in the northern and southern latitudes of the planet and that the exact extent will depend on the power of the storm.
“My advice is to go out tonight and look, because if you see an aurora, it’s something spectacular,” he continued.
Brent Gordon of NOAA Space Weather Services suggested taking nighttime photos with cell phones, even if the aurora is not visible to the naked eye. “You would be surprised what you can see in the photo” captured with the most modern cell phones, he said.
The last Level 5 geomagnetic storm observed was in October 2003, an episode dubbed “the Halloween storms.”
However, the largest solar storm on record is the “Carrington event”, which occurred in 1859, which destroyed the telegraph network in the United States.
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2024-05-14 00:21:47