An intense geomagnetic storm triggered the possibility of northern lights being sighted across Canada and the northern half of the United States on Monday night, along with parts of Europe, including Germany, Switzerland and Ukraine.
The solar storm — which is the largest in over two decades — is the outcome of a mass eruption of charged particles that left the sun on Sunday and are forecasted to arrive Monday and Tuesday, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to the Deutsche Welle.
A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field due to a solar storm. Monday night’s storm was “very rare,” NOAA said.
The geostorm acquired G4 conditions at 7:38 pm GMT (8:38 pm CET) on Monday, putting it in the second-highest category, the agency added.
Spaceweather, an astronomy platform, reported that the ejection cloud covered the distance from the sun to the earth in nearly 25 hours. Usually, a similar cloud would take three to four days to make the journey.
Shawn Dahl, a service coordinator at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, said that the last solar radiation storm of this magnitude hit the earth in 2003.
Solar radiation storms can risk affecting objects in space and satellite operations. The phenomenon could also cause issues with voltage.
Where were the Northern lights visible?
On Monday Night, the northern lights — also known as aurora borealis — graced the skies in several parts of Germany, the German Weather Service (DWD) said.
The storm’s strength led to the hues of Auroras being visible as far south as the Alps.
Meanwhile in the US, the NOAA said those in northern and central states of the continental US “can look for the aurora if at night and should weather conditions permit.”
The green, red and purple hues of the rare lights could also be visible as far south as Alabama to northern California, the agency added.
