The show was more intense than anticipated. A night of northern lights in the Northern Hemisphere, southern lights in the South, and visible in much larger areas than usual. The cause is a violent solar storm which hit the Earth last night and whose effects should still be felt throughout the weekend.
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The American Space Weather Service warned mid-week that strong solar activity would have consequences on Earth this weekend. the forecast was correct but underestimated: we reached a level not seen in more than twenty years.
The images made often on the front pages of the newspapers this Saturday.as evidenced by our press review.
Northern lights around the world
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Concretely, the shock between this solar wind and our atmosphere above all caused auroras of rare intensity, visible in areas really not accustomed to such a spectacle: southern Europe, Florida for the northern hemisphere, South Africa or even Namibia in the Southern Hemisphere.
Read also“Extreme” solar storm hits Earth for first time since 2003
Caused by the plasma sent by our star towards Earth, the auroras have tinted the sky over a large part of the planet with their strange pink or green color…
A phenomenon which is not only poetic however. If the Earth’s magnetic field protects us from radiation sent by the sun, we can still have effects here and there on electrical systems. An even greater risk in space, for satellites in particular, but also for astronauts. If there had been any on the Moon at the time of the storm, they would have received a fatal dose of radiation…