Residents of the United States and many regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe on Saturday night, on May 11 became witnesses of a rare natural phenomenon -polar or northern lights (Aurora Borealis).
Northern lights – an atmospheric optical phenomenon, a glow (luminescence) of the upper layers of the atmosphere of the planets that occurs due to the interaction of the magnetosphere of the planet with charged particles of the solar wind
According to USA Today, even residents of Florida in the south of the United States were able to see the northern lights.
Space Weather forecasting Center (SWPC) during the National Administration of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research of the United States (Noah) said that the optical phenomenon was most distinctly observed by residents of such states as North Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northern Dakota.
Noaa said that the geomagnetic storm of such intensity, which occurred for the first time since 2005, reached the Earth at 18.54 local time.
The northern lights were visible from Alaska to Florida in the United States, and on the European continent in the UK, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark and Ukraine. Residents of the Russian Federation and Turkey also became witnesses of a unique phenomenon.
May tenth SWPC published a warning about the geomagnetic storm of the “extreme” level of G5. The last time such a geomagnetic effect on the Earth arose in the fall of 2003.
The message follows that the geomagnetic storm will continue, probably throughout the weekend. As a result, satellite navigation, energy systems and communication around the world may suffer.