by A series of powerful solar storms colored skies across the Northern Hemisphere this weekend, as people saw spectacular displays of it the northern lights in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and beyond. Officials said the spectacular light shows could continue for several more days.
The aurora borealis – the phenomenon more commonly known as the northern lights – is caused by molecular collisions in the upper levels of the Earth’s atmosphere that release bursts of energy in the form of visible light. The aurora borealis has a counterpart, the aurora australis, or southern lights, which is the same phenomenon in the southern hemisphere. These light displays can be seen for as much as half the year in some places near either of the planet’s poles, but it is rare to see them in areas closer to the equator, which is why . the glasses over North AmericaEurope and other places have been on similar latitutdes for the past few days.
The aurora will extend from the poles toward the equator during periods of intense space weather activity, and has previously been known to reach as far as the continental US when the activity is particularly extreme. That was the case over the weekend, when an unusually strong geomagnetic storm reached Earth and set the stage for a series of explosive nighttime scenes around the world. Friday’s geomagnetic storm was a historic G5, the highest level on a classification scale that starts at G1, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
There may be additional Aurora sightings (weather permitting) tomorrow evening! A Geomagnetic Storm Watch has been issued for Sunday, May 12. Periods of G4-G5 geomagnetic storms are likely! 👀 https://t.co/iibFBuyzXo
— National Weather Service (@NWS) May 11, 2024
A solar storm of that magnitude has not touched Earth in many years. It came in the middle of a parade of coronal superstorms – eruptions of magnetic field and other solar material from the Sun’s corona that can create geomagnetic storms – which continued to fuel the northern lights shows throughout Friday and Saturday. The next bursts of solar material are expected to reach Earth mid-day on Sunday, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, which has issued a geomagnetic storm watch in anticipation of likely G4 or G5 events after the impending coronary mass effusions.
“Watches at this level are very rare,” the space weather forecast center said in an advisory Saturday. He noted that incoming solar activity could cause the aurora “to be visible over much of the northern half of the country, and possibly as far south as Alabama to northern California.”
Ahead of the next round of solar flares, here’s a look at some amazing auroras that have appeared so far this weekend in different parts of the world.
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