The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades hit Earth this Friday, May 10, causing spectacular polar auroras and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists through the weekend.
Several coronal mass ejections (CMEs), large plasma emissions and magnetic fields have been recorded from the Sun, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
NOAA categorized the geomagnetic storm as “extreme,” the first since several storms in October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damage to energy infrastructure in South Africa.
More CMEs are expected to impact the planet in the coming days.
This Friday, May 10, social networks were filled with photos of auroras captured in northern Europe and Australasia.
“We’ve just woken up the children to see the northern lights in the backyard! It’s clearly visible,” Iain Mansfield, a member of a think tank in Hertford, Britain, told AFP.
Others like photographer Sean O’ Riordan reported in X photographs of “absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4:00 am.”
Authorities asked satellite operators, airlines and power grid managers to take precautionary measures against possible disturbances caused by changes in the Earth’s magnetic field.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said, however, that it “does not anticipate any significant impact on the country’s airspace system.”
Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and are capable of reaching Earth in eight minutes, CMEs travel at a slower pace of 800 km per second.
Meteorologists hope to be able to better specify the impact they will have when they are at a distance of 1.6 million kilometers.
Magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms They induce currents in long conductors, including power cables, which can cause blackouts.
Impacts may also occur on high-frequency radio communication, GPS, on spacecraft and satellites.
Even pigeons and other species that have biological compasses could be affected.
“Come out tonight and look”
But they can also have other effects, such as the appearance of polar auroras – known as the aurora borealis or australis, depending on the hemisphere – in places where they are not normally visible.
Mathew Owens, professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told AFP that the effects would be felt mainly in the northern and southern latitudes of the planet. The exact range will depend on the final strength of the storm.
“Northern Canada, Scotland and those kinds of places are going to have good auroras; I think we can say that for sure,” he said, adding that the situation could be repeated in the southern hemisphere.
“My advice is to go out tonight and look, because if you see the aurora, it is something spectacular,” he continued.
In the United States, this phenomenon could be observed in the northernmost region of states such as California and Alabama.
Brent Gordon of NOAA Space Weather Services suggests people try taking night photos with their cell phones, even if the aurora isn’t 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.
To read more: The ‘blue hole’ in the sky of Sweden that reveals the northern lights and lunar rainbows
The authorities recommend that the population maintain regular measures against possible blackouts, such as having flashlights, batteries and weather radios on hand.
The largest solar storm on record is the “Carrington event” of 1859: it destroyed the telegraph network in the United States, delivered electrical discharges and the northern lights were visible in unprecedented latitudes, as far as Central America.
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