It happened in April, when it was possible to see the Northern Lights at very low latitudes, close to the equator and far from the common polar environment. The phenomenon was recorded in unusual places, such as Texas or Extremadura, something that, according to the researcher Consuelo Cid Tortuero, quoted by the Spanish newspaper El Paísit occurs due to “one of the largest magnetic storms, caused by a solar filament.”
When the Sun’s activity reaches violent levels, in the form of eruptions or solar flares, radiation increases and emissions of energetic particles are generated that affect the planet. When a large mass of plasma from the Sun strikes Earth, the solar wind causes geomagnetic storms in the upper atmosphere. These storms manifest themselves through northern lights, visible in the range of the north and south poles.
However, if the storm is strong enough, the Northern Lights can be seen at lower latitudes, including the Iberian Peninsula. The peak of the solar cycle, which causes more material to be ejected from the Sun towards Earth, is responsible for the visibility of these phenomena in the southern United States and Europe.
“dawn [boreal] It is the most striking manifestation of the magnetic storms caused by the mass that comes from the Sun and impacts the Earth”, explains María Teresa del Río Gaztelurrutia, from the Planetary Sciences team of the University of the Basque Country, to El País.
The Northern Lights are common events and can only cause problems when classified as “beastly events”, causing the sky to glow unusual shades of purple and violet.
According to data recorded by physicist Scott W. McIntosh, director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the United States, the maximum of the solar peak could be brought forward a year, forecasting for the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2023. 2024. This event, called ” Terminator” by scientists, occurs when the usual solar cycle – which lasts 11 years – ends abruptly, changing the star’s polarity. The new cycle then begins with more intensity. As one solar cycle ends and the next begins, the Sun can experience magnetic field collisions that result in tsunamis of plasma that can carry on the solar surface for several weeks.
The geophysicist Joan Miquel Torta confirms to the newspaper El País that we are in a more active solar cycle than expected for the moment.
For Consuelo Cid Tortuero, we are “on the way” to a solar peak. “The worst is the descending part of the cycle, which is when there are a lot of filaments on the Sun.” These filaments, according to the expert, are bulges that can eject solar material into space, and could pose a danger if they are directed towards our planet.
Torta, an expert in geophysical security, says that solar flares at their peak are “events with little probability, but with a very high impact”, due to the possibility of causing problems for the electrical network or satellites.
Scientists consulted by El País remember the ‘Carrington’ event as the biggest solar storm, when, in 1859, an explosion burned down the telegraph network of the United States and the United Kingdom.
In 1989, in Canada, lightning struck a hydroelectric plant, leaving millions of people without power for 12 hours.
Source: TSF
