Northern Lights amaze skygazers in UK, Europe and US for third consecutive night
Skygazers were left spellbound for the third night in a row on Sunday as a solar storm painted the night skies with aurora borealis in the UK, the US, Europe and Canada.
The powerful geomagnetic storm created a glowing green, pink and purple Northern Lights show seen from several parts of the UK, including London, Liverpool and Whitley Bay.
And the lights were even more impressive across the Atlantic Ocean in the US and Canada.
The show on Sunday night was caused by a weakened “G3” category geomagnetic storm, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
It began as a more extreme G5 category storm on Friday when the celestial display was more pronounced.
This weekend’s was the most powerful solar storm to hit Earth in over two decades. Such a storm is caused when the sun ejects large clouds of particles – known as ”coronal mass ejections” – and they collide with Earth’s magnetic field.
The last G5 storm hit Earth in October 2003 and sparked power outages in Sweden.
The latest storm posed a risk to transmission lines for power grids, but not to the electrical lines ordinarily found in our homes, space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl said.
Satellites could also be affected, disrupting navigation and communication services on Earth.
SpaceX said its Starlink satellite internet service had been degraded. CEO Elon Musk wrote on X overnight that Starlink satellites were “under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far”.
Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said on Sunday night that geomagnetic activity was on the rise but a “quite extensive” cloud cover could block the view for some people.
Said Pulido, a photographer, said he captured the Northern Lights “glowing above Anthony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ statue on Crosby Beach” in Liverpool.
The #NorthernLights glowing above Anthony Gormley's 'Another Place' statue on Crosby Beach in #Liverpool, #England. #Aurora #Auroras #AuroraBorealis pic.twitter.com/OVQGcUXNrP
— Said Pulido (@Super_Said) May 12, 2024
Seeing the northern light from a plane is beautiful pic.twitter.com/16EZbLchkO
— Damond K Davis (@dkdavis518) May 13, 2024
A sky watcher captured a view of the lights from a plane window.
United Kingdom pic.twitter.com/6MqR1umNEn
— Avi🍁 (@avitrends) May 12, 2024
Another person captured what he called the “residual end of the Aurora Borealis” above Liverpool.
Sky above Liverpool looks different than usual. Phone camera not captured it perfectly, but could be the residual end of the Aurora Borealis.
Taken around 22.01pm tonight, 12th May 2024.
More subtle than Friday 10th May.
Less ostentatious 😀
More of a British Aurora Borealis. pic.twitter.com/gSWRrb4AYc— Michael Stephen Dempsey (@Michael94617501) May 12, 2024
People also shared pictures of a stunning display of the aurora from Canada, including at Lake Huron, which is shared by Canada with the US.
Some good colors above Lake Huron tonight!#aurora #northernlights #michigan pic.twitter.com/IaeNJq5flM
— Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist) May 13, 2024
The northern lights over Lost Lake in Whistler, BC, Canada. [OC] [2000x3000] via https://t.co/UhJ52su47f pic.twitter.com/jX3HBwjDfY
— jayminho.eth (@jayminho) May 13, 2024
Nathan Barker, a photographer based in Toronto, shared a picture of the lights from Southern Ontario.
Northern Lights are making another appears tonight in southern Ontario. pic.twitter.com/ipYRddySZr
— Nathan Barker (@NASA_Nerd) May 13, 2024
Found a cemetery while taking Aurora photos. #Auroraborealis #manitoba pic.twitter.com/rY02bAIVvF
— Michael Pratt (@MikePrattPhotos) May 12, 2024