Second night of auroras seen ‘extreme’ solar storm
WENDOVER, UTAH – MAY 10: A geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024 in Wendover, Utah. Places as far south as Alabama and parts of Northern California were expected to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights from a powerful geomagnetic storm that reached Earth. Blake Benard/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Blake Benard / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)TOPSHOT – Northern lights or aurora borealis illuminate the night sky over a camper’s tent north of San Francisco in Middletown, California on May 11, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP)TOPSHOT – The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over waters of Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch on May 11, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by Sanka Vidanagama / AFP)Northern lights or aurora borealis illuminate the night sky along a highway north of San Francisco in Middletown, California on May 11, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP)TOPSHOT – The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over Punta Arenas, Chile, on May 10, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by CLAUDIO MONGE / AFP)People watch the the aurora australis or southern lights caused by a solar storm at Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Paul CROCK / AFP)The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights illuminate the sky in Espoo, Finland on May 10, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP)The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over waters of Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch on May 11, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by Sanka Vidanagama / AFP)
By Lucie AUBOURG with AFP bureaus around the world
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2024 (AFP) –
Auroras lit up skies across swaths of the planet for the second night in a row on Saturday, after already dazzling Earthlings from the United States to Tasmania to the Bahamas the day before.
A powerful solar storm — which could continue into Sunday — has triggered spectacular celestial shows usually confined to the far northern reaches of the planet, hence their nickname of the “northern lights.”
“I have the sensation of living through a historic night in France… It was really charged, with solar particles and emotions,” Eric Lagadec, an astrophysicist at the Observatoire de Cote d’Azur, wrote on social media after the first night.
“Find good spots, away from the lights, with a clear view to the north!”
Late Saturday evening, pictures again started trickling onto social media as people in the United States reported sightings, though not as strong as Friday night’s.
The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun — came just after 1600 GMT Friday, according to the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).
It was later upgraded to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm — the first since the “Halloween Storms” of October 2003 that caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa.
Friday’s storm was listed as hitting level five geomagnetic conditions — the highest on the scale. Saturday saw G3 to G5 conditions, with G4 or higher conditions predicted Sunday and G3 conditions possible into Monday.
But no major disruptions to power or communications networks appear to have been reported this time around, despite initial worries from authorities.
There have only been “preliminary reports of power grid irregularities, degradation to high-frequency communications, GPS and possibly satellite navigation,” the SWPC said.
Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite internet operator has some 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, said 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 the storm will impact communications and navigation in most areas of the country, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Auroras were visible in the northern half of the country, according to media reports.
TOPSHOT – The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, is faintly seen over the Laguna Garzon Bridge between the Uruguayan southeastern departments of Maldonado and Rocha, near the seaside resort of Jose Ignacio, on May 11, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by Mariana SUAREZ / AFP)WENDOVER, UTAH – MAY 10: A geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024 in Wendover, Utah. Places as far south as Alabama and parts of Northern California were expected to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights from a powerful geomagnetic storm that reached Earth. Blake Benard/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Blake Benard / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)WENDOVER, UTAH – MAY 10: A geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024 in Wendover, Utah. Places as far south as Alabama and parts of Northern California were expected to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights from a powerful geomagnetic storm that reached Earth. Blake Benard/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Blake Benard / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)MANNING PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA – MAY 11: Aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights is seen on May 11, 2024 in Manning Park, British Columbia, Canada. Places as far south as Alabama and parts of Northern California were expected to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights from a powerful geomagnetic storm that reached Earth. Andrew Chin/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Andrew Chin / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
TOPSHOT – The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over Punta Arenas, Chile, on May 10, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by CLAUDIO MONGE / AFP)
– Worldwide excitement –
Excitement over the phenomenon — and otherworldly photos pink, green and purple night skies — popped up across the world, from Mont Saint-Michel on the French coast to Payette, Idaho — in the western United States — to Australia’s island state of Tasmania.
Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in around eight minutes, CMEs travel at a more sedate pace, with officials putting the current average at 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second.
The CMEs emanated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our planet.
People with eclipse glasses can also look for the sunspot cluster during the day.
The Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings heightened activity.
NOAA’s Brent Gordon encouraged the public to try to capture 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.”
WENDOVER, UTAH – MAY 10: A geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024 in Wendover, Utah. Places as far south as Alabama and parts of Northern California were expected to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights from a powerful geomagnetic storm that reached Earth. Blake Benard/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Blake Benard / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)TOPSHOT – People look at the Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, in Rolleston outskirts of Christchurch on May 11, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by Sanka Vidanagama / AFP)WENDOVER, UTAH – MAY 10: A geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024 in Wendover, Utah. Places as far south as Alabama and parts of Northern California were expected to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights from a powerful geomagnetic storm that reached Earth. Blake Benard/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Blake Benard / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights illuminate the sky in Espoo, Finland on May 10, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP) / Finland OUTWENDOVER, UTAH – MAY 10: People pose for photos as a geomagnetic storm lights up the night sky above the Bonneville Salt Flats on May 10, 2024 in Wendover, Utah. Places as far south as Alabama and parts of Northern California were expected to see the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights from a powerful geomagnetic storm that reached Earth. Blake Benard/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Blake Benard / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
TOPSHOT – People gather to watch the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, in New Brighton in northwest England late on May 10, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)Northern lights or aurora borealis illuminate the night sky in the Novosibirsk region early on May 12, 2024. (Photo by Vladimir NIKOLAYEV / AFP)The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon as seen from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina on May 10, 2024. The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. (Photo by Alexis DELELISI / AFP)
– Spacecraft and pigeons –
Fluctuating magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires, including power lines, which can potentially lead to blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering problems.
Spacecraft are also at risk from high doses of radiation, although the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.
NASA has a dedicated team looking into astronaut safety and can ask astronauts on the International Space Station to move to places within the outpost that are better shielded.
Even pigeons and other species that have internal biological compasses could be affected. Pigeon handlers have noted a reduction in birds coming home during geomagnetic storms, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, known as the Carrington Event after British astronomer Richard Carrington, occurred in September 1859.