The spectacle of the northern lights, which set the skies on fire for three nights around the world, ended this Monday with an event associated with a historic solar storm that is still ongoing, but with less intensity.
“The most spectacular is behind us. There was another solar flare on Sunday, and therefore there may still be a chance to see the little things that are happening, but not with the naked eye,” Eric Lagadec, an astrophysicist at the Observatory of La D’Azur, explained to Agence France-Presse (AFP) this Monday Shores-UCA.
Explosions of solar particles that caused a violent geomagnetic storm when they struck Earth on Friday continued to blast its outer atmosphere into the early hours of Monday.
In the United States, the warning was in effect until 7:00 a.m. (Portuguese time) Monday, according to the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and the U.S. Ocean Exploration Agency (NOAA).
From Austria to California, Russia to New Zealand, photos in shades of blue, orange and pink graced social media over the weekend, with Portugal also being mulled over.
Solar explosions called coronal mass ejections, which can reach Earth within days, triggered the event by creating the northern and southern lights by coming into contact with Earth’s magnetic field.
The light phenomenon, exceptional for such low latitudes, had already weakened on Saturday night, especially in France, where “only the most experienced in photography could capture it,” added Eric Lagadec.
The solar storm is not over yet and the phenomenon may continue, but with less intensity, concentrating more classically towards the North Pole, where the northern lights are difficult to see because it is daylight in this region most of the time.
“The source of the storm is a sunspot, which is now located at the edge of the Sun. Therefore, a priori, the next ejections (coronal mass) will not be in the direction of the Earth,” said Eric Lagadec.
The storm will “gradually subside over the next few days” and it is unlikely that the spectacle will continue on Monday and Tuesday, also stressed Quentin Verspiren, who coordinates the space safety program at ESA (European Space Agency).
But “the behavior of the Sun is very difficult to predict,” the expert added.
Friday produced the first Level 5 “extreme” geomagnetic storm since 2003, then dubbed the “Halloween Storms.”
Although authorities were concerned about the possible impact on electrical and communications networks, no major disruptions have yet been observed.
Billionaire Elon Musk, whose Starlink internet network has thousands of satellites in low orbit, assured X that they all “weathered the geomagnetic storm” and remained “in good health.”
On the air traffic front, the North American Civil Aviation Agency (FAA) stressed on Friday that it does not expect “significant impacts,” advising airlines and pilots to anticipate possible disruptions that could disrupt navigation instruments.
The largest solar storm ever recorded occurred in 1859, according to NASA. Also known as the Carrington event, it severely disrupted telegraph communications at the time.