The powerful solar storm that caused a rare Northern Lights show

The northern lights put on an unusual spectacle in UKEurope and other parts of the northern hemisphere, delighting skywatchers.

The rare display was due to one of the strongest geomagnetic storms to hit Earth in years.

LOOK: “The Asunta case”: the Chinese girl murdered by her adoptive parents who shook Spain

The severity of the storm prompted the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a rare warning.

But it was because of this phenomenon that the chances of many people being able to see the lights of the Northern Lights increased.

A bright light filled the sky over Crosby Beach in Liverpool, England. (MEDIUM PA).

The extreme geomagnetic storm that occurred on Friday was classified at level G5 (extreme), the most severe category.

Storms of this scale could potentially affect infrastructure, including satellites and the electrical grid, NOAA warned. So far there have been no reports of interruptions.

“The energy industry is establishing plans for a series of events that will occur far and wide, including space,” said Ross Easton, spokesperson for the Energy Grid Association, and added that spatial forecasts are being carefully monitored during the end of the week.

ANDThe last extreme geomagnetic storm event was in 2003.

The luminescence seen in Vienna. (GET IMAGES).

Clear skies, like those observed in several regions of the Northern Hemisphere on Friday night, made it possible to see the aurora.

The expectation is that the phenomenon can be observed again on Saturday and, although the geomagnetic storm remains in the severe categoryit may not reach the extreme of Friday.

The aurora lit up the sky north of San Francisco Bay, California. (GET IMAGES).

A dawn around the world

In the United States, NOAA said the lights could be seen as far south as Alabama and as far north as California.

Many of the northern European countries also enjoyed the spectacle.

The cameras captured Bright pink skies over Austria and a purple hue were seen over Germany.

Observers in Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark and Poland, among others, were also able to enjoy the light show.

The phenomenon was also captured in China, with fuchsia skies photographed in the north of the country.

Fuchsia skies over Xilinhot in northern China’s Inner Mongolia province. (GET IMAGES).

How rare is it to see the Northern Lights?

Auroras occur when charged particles They collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles.

In the Northern Hemisphere, most of this activity occurs within a band known as the aurora oval, which covers latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees.

When activity is strong, it expands to cover a larger area, which is why light displays can occasionally be seen further south.

The “rare event” occurring now is being caused by a large group of sunspots that have produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday morning, Noaa said. This is why the lights were seen further south than usual.

Sunspots are like huge volcanoes that spew plumes of particles, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

The more powerful the CMEs, the more particles penetrate the atmosphere and the brighter and larger the aurora.

The CMEs that erupted from the Sun are more powerful than any that have hit Earth since January 2005.

These are solar storms so powerful that they can even disrupt satellites and the electrical grid, releasing powerful currents that can damage their components.

Source: Elcomercio