The Earth was hit by a geomagnetic storm of the highest magnitude on Friday. It is caused by solar eruptions, which have been unusually numerous in recent days. And it was because of this that the aurora borealis was extremely visible in the Northern Hemisphere. Eruptions on the Sun are likely to continue through the weekend. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is warning of outages in the satellite navigation system or electricity distribution.
“There is a so-called coronal mass ejection — this is a cloud of electrically charged particles that travels through the solar system. And if it hits the Earth, it affects its magnetic field and creates a geomagnetic storm,” explained astronomer from the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Pavel Suchan.
“I have been observing the universe for fifty years and in that time I have never seen anything like this. It was absolutely amazing, everything was red, absolutely incredible,” said astrophotographer Zdeněk Bardon.
Events: Northern lights (source: ČT24)
“It’s quite rare. It really only happens in very, very extreme events. It’s actually a cascade of events that must take place so that we can eventually observe the aurora borealis here too,” said David Píša from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
According to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, there will be a chance to see the aurora borealis in the Czech Republic in the coming days as well. According to experts, the phenomenon may be even stronger than on Friday. However, the observation may be disturbed by greater cloud cover.
“Now until Tuesday night we have the highest warning for a geomagnetic storm, and thus the highest promise of aurora observability,” said Suchan. “It’s best to find a dark spot while looking toward the northern horizon,” he advised.
Studio ČT24: Astronomer Pavel Suchan comments on the aurora borealis (source: ČT24)
Warning of negative effects
NOAA has issued a warning about possible negative impacts from the storm. The phenomenon can cause problems for satellite navigation systems, for example. A similarly powerful storm in 2003 saw problems with electrical distribution networks and transformers in Sweden and South Africa.
The Civil Aviation Agency has also warned that geomagnetic storms can disrupt navigational instruments and high-frequency radio transmissions. However, she added that she does not expect any significant consequences.
“But nothing will happen to most people here on Earth,” NOAA scientist Rob Steenburgh was quoted as saying by the AP. Because of the storm, the aurora borealis can be seen in places much further south than usual.
“None of the solar flares in recent days have been anything like dazzling in speed or size. But it was such a long and uninterrupted series of eruptions that they all mixed together to form the first superstorms in more than 20 years,” Mathew Owens, professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told AFP. He explained that usually the auroras are only visible around the poles, but the stronger the storms, the closer to the equator the auroras are visible.
For those interested in observing the auroras, he recommends watching the so-called auroral monitors, on a computer at www.solarham.com or www.spaceweatherlive.com, or via the Aurora Alerts mobile application.
