The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades hit the Earth this Friday (05/10/2024), causing spectacular polar auroras and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists through the weekend.
The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs), large emissions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun, occurred shortly after 6:00 p.m. CET, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Some time later, NOAA categorized the geomagnetic storm as “extreme,” the first since several of them in October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damage to energy infrastructure in South Africa.
More CMEs are expected to impact the planet in the coming days.
On Friday, social media was filled with photos of auroras captured in northern Europe and Australasia.
«“Biblical heavens” in Tasmania
“We just woke up the kids to see the Northern Lights in the backyard! It is clearly visible,” Iain Mansfield, a member of a think tank in Hertford, Britain, told AFP.
Others like photographer Sean O’ Riordan reported in X photographs of “absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4:00 am.”
Authorities asked satellite operators, airlines and power grid managers to take precautionary measures against possible disturbances caused by changes in the Earth’s magnetic field.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said, however, that it “does not anticipate any significant impact on the country’s airspace system.”
Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and are capable of reaching Earth in eight minutes, CMEs travel at a slower pace of 800 km per second.
Meteorologists hope to be able to better specify the impact they will have when they are at a distance of 1.6 million kilometers.
They can cause blackouts, effects on GPS and birds.
Magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long conductors, including power cables, which can cause blackouts.
Impacts may also occur on high-frequency radio communication, GPS, on spacecraft and satellites.
Even pigeons and other species that have biological compasses could be affected.
But they can also bring other effects, such as the appearance of polar auroras – known as aurora borealis or australis, depending on the hemisphere – in places where they are not normally visible.
The largest solar storm on record is the “Carrington event” of 1859: it destroyed the telegraph network in the United States, delivered electrical discharges and the northern lights were visible in unprecedented latitudes, as far as Central America.
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