Solar storm in Mexico causes northern lights that could be seen in the north of the country

Northern lights reported in the north of the country Photo: X@TheMaxiArte

During the last 48 hours, several solar storms have been recorded, phenomena characterized by the emission of clouds of solar material.

The effects of these events are expected to begin on the night of May 10 and continue over the next two days, so impacts on satellites, telecommunications, global positioning systems, air navigation and generation networks are not ruled out. and transmission of electrical energy.

In addition to this, the solar storm was accompanied by the northern lights, a fascinating but unusual event.

Just as SkyAlert reported would happen, the category G5 solar storm made an aurora borealis visible north of Mexico.

Northern lights seen from Sinaloa (Photo: X/@JuumAnArce)

“The #GeomagneticStorm continues to increase. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center (NOAA), it reached category G5, considered extreme.”

“In addition, the KP index, related to auroras, reached level 11, which suggests that they can be observed even as far as mid-latitudes such as northern Mexico,” the verified account @SkyAlertMx published on X.

In addition to this, previously an account specialized in space weather (Space Weather Watch) published from its profile on the social network X: “Honestly, we might have aurora in Mexico tonight…”.

According to preliminary reports, the northern lights were captured in the states of Sinaloa and Sonora.

In the United States and Canada, this visual spectacle that can commonly only be seen in places such as Iceland, southern Greenland, the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway, Alaska and Lapland, in Finland, might also be observed.

Hours earlier, thousands of northern lights were reported on the European continent, caused by the solar storm G4 until then.

Solar storms can cause the northern lights due to the interaction between energetic particles released by the Sun and the Earth’s magnetosphere. These particles, mainly protons and electrons, are ejected during solar storms in what is known as coronal mass ejection or solar wind.

Upon reaching Earth, these particles are guided by the Earth’s magnetic field towards the poles. On their way, they collide with atoms and molecules of gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, such as oxygen and nitrogen.

The solar storm reached grade G5 (Illustrative Image Infobae)

This collision energizes the atoms and when they return to their normal state, they release the energy in the form of light, which is visible in the sky in the form of the northern lights.

The variety of colors of the auroras, including shades of green, red and violet, is due to the different types of gases present in the atmosphere and the height at which the collisions occur.

Observing the Northern Lights in Mexico might be considered an extremely unusual event. However, on September 1, 1859, 164 years ago, the phenomenon known as the Carrington event allowed an aurora borealis to be visible in various Mexican cities.

According to information collected by SkyAlert, the phenomenon was seen in cities such as Guadalajara, Hidalgo and Mexico City.

Added to this fact is another precedent recorded on November 14, 1789 that might be seen from San Luis Potosí to Oaxaca, passing through the country’s capital. It is recorded that on that occasion the tone of the lights was reddish.