The Northern Lights provided a rare sight to residents across the United States and around the world Friday night, as a powerful solar storm fueled a spectacle that could be seen as far south as the Florida Keys.
The strong solar flares that the sun has been emitting since Wednesday morning have caused auroras to be visible across large swaths of North America and Europe.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday that seven corona clusters have begun entering Earth’s exosphere. The agency issued its first rare severe (G4) geomagnetic storm watch in 19 years this week, but announced Friday night that extreme (G5) conditions had reached Earth at 6:54 p.m. ET. The last extreme event occurred in October 2003 during the “Halloween Storm.”
With the sun at the top of its 11-year cycle, conditions were perfect for the aurora borealis to put on a light show that wowed sky watchers and brought the aurora borealis to far more Americans than usual. .
“I never thought I’d be able to see it from my front yard in Key Largo, Florida,” said Mike Theis, a veteran extreme nature photographer and storm chaser. He said he watched the news about the solar storm all day Friday. He thought he was “a little jealous” of missing out on the Northern Lights, but then he started seeing photos posted on social media in real time in South Carolina, Georgia and the Bahamas.
Although he couldn’t believe the sighting, he decided to take a chance. “When I walked out the front door, the lights were on. I could see a faint red light with my naked eye,” Tice told USA TODAY. “I was looking at the Northern Lights. I still can’t believe it.”
Skygazers, if you didn’t have a chance to catch the Northern Lights on Friday, May 10, try again today. Weather permitting, forecasters predict that many areas of the United States will see the aurora borealis. According to some sources, there are several reports of power grid anomalies and degradation of radio frequency, communications, and GPS systems. Report from NOAA.
The aurora disrupted some system functions, and this phenomenon has caused major accidents in the past. In 1989, the Aurora successfully knocked out electricity in Quebec for nine hours. But the strongest aurora was in 1859, when the light was so bright that it could be mistaken for sunlight and lasted a day, the Planetary Society reported.
Here we take a look at some of the images taken in the US and Europe.
Aurora:When can we see the Northern Lights? Northern lights are expected to occur in more than a dozen states this weekend
Geomagnetic storm:Solar storms are powerful enough to disrupt communications: Why NOAA says there’s no need to worry
“It’s completely unbelievable.”
Incredible illumination of Florida’s Northern Lights
Auroras are “dazzling” in the skies over Europe
Contributor: Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY.
