The sumptuous spectacle of the Northern Lights which set the sky ablaze around the world for three nights is coming to an end: this episode linked to a historic solar storm can still continue but less intensely.
“The most spectacular is behind us. There was another solar flare on Sunday and so there is perhaps a chance to still see small things happening, but not with the naked eye,” Eric Lagadec, astrophysicist at the Observatory, told AFP on Monday. of the Côte d’Azur-UCA.
Particle ejections from the Sun, which triggered a strong geomagnetic storm when they reached Earth on Friday, continued to reach its outer atmosphere until dawn on Monday.
In the United States, the alert remained in effect until 2 a.m. Monday, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Observing Administration.
Auroras were still possibly visible overnight from Sunday to Monday in New York, northern Iowa and Washington state.
From Austria to California, from Russia to New Zealand, photos illuminated in blue, orange or pink graced social networks over the weekend.
The edge of the sun
The luminous phenomenon, exceptional at such low latitudes, had already weakened during the night from Saturday to Sunday, particularly in France where “only those most experienced in photography were able to capture them”, added Eric Lagadec, still moved to have saw the first Northern Lights of his life on the night of Friday to Saturday, the peak of the event.
The solar storm is not over, the phenomenon can nevertheless continue, but with less intensity, concentrating in a more classic way towards the North Pole – where the northern lights are difficult to see, because it is there at the moment day most of the time.
“The source of the storm is a sunspot that is now on the edge of the Sun. A priori, the next ejections [de masse coronale, NDLR] will therefore not be made in the direction of Earth,” clarified Eric Lagadec.
Friday gave rise to the first “extreme” geomagnetic storm since that of 2003, level 5, then nicknamed “the Halloween storms”.
Although the authorities were concerned about possible consequences on the electricity and communications networks, no major disruption has yet been observed.
Only “preliminary” information regarding “irregularities on the power grid” as well as “degradation of high-frequency communications, GPS and possibly satellite navigation” have been reported, according to the US Space Weather Prediction Center.
To China
Billionaire Elon Musk, whose Internet network Starlink has thousands of satellites in low orbit, assured on X that they had all “withstood the geomagnetic storm” and that they remained “in good health”.
Regarding air traffic, the American Civil Aviation Agency said on Friday “not to expect significant consequences”, while having advised airlines and pilots to “anticipate” possible disruptions. , geomagnetic storms can disrupt navigation tools.
In China, northern lights were observed in the northern half of the country, state news agency Xinhua reported, after the red alert issued Saturday by the Chinese Center for Space Weather.
Solar flares called coronal mass ejections, which can take several days to reach Earth, are causing the current event, creating the northern and southern lights when they come into contact with Earth’s magnetic field.
The Sun is currently near its peak activity, a cycle that returns every 11 years.
The largest solar storm on record occurred in 1859, according to NASA. Also known as the Carrington event, it seriously disrupted telegraph communications.