A recent solar storm triggers aurora all over the world

A strong solar storm hit the Earth on April 23, 2023, causing disturbances in our planet’s electromagnetic field. Consequently, people from many different parts of the world witnessed aurora. In the U.S., the Northern lights were visible as far as Illinois, but people from parts of the U.K., Kazakhstan, and New Zealand also witnessed auroras. They tweeted about the breathtaking sight, sharing the photos they took.

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scale, the geomagnetic storm hit the G4 on the 5-grade scale. This makes it pretty severe, so it pushed aurora borealis and aurora australis to the parts of the world where they are rarely or almost never seen. Therefore, there were sightings of Northern lights in Illinois and Southern California!

Alice Hwang witnessed and photographed aurora borealis in the Owens Peak Wilderness in the Southern Sierra, CA. Landon Moeller captured it near Apple River, IL, along with the smoke trail of a meteor

Never thought I’d see the #NorthernLights in Southern California! 😱🤩 I took this pic on my phone, no filter! In the Owens Peak Wilderness in the Southern Sierra. #AuroraBorealis #aurora pic.twitter.com/HvgXCbLYZs

— Alice Hwang (@MsAliceHwang) April 24, 2023

WOW!! INCREDIBLE meteor with smoke trail just fell through the northern lights near Apple River, Illinois! @TamithaSkov @spacewxwatch #aurora pic.twitter.com/l5M9TgK3n0

— Landon Moeller (@landon_wx) April 24, 2023

Russian photographer Andrey Tyushin photographed the northern lights in Kazakhstan at 51° latitude. “When they tell us about northern light, we immediately think of Iceland, Finland, and the far north of Russia, but no way about Kazakhstan,” Andrey wrote on Instagram. “But on the night of April 23 to 24, a magnetic storm of enormous power occurred on Earth, which made aurora visible in Kazakhstan!”

In New Zealand, the solar storm pushed southern lights to more northern parts of the country. Therefore, people from places like Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland were lucky to witness the show. The “solar tsunami” that prompted auroras in the night sky had reached levels not seen in this country in the last six years, according to Devlin Lynden, project manager of the University of Otago’s Solar Tsunami project. Edwin Mabonga captured it in Southland New Zealand.

Clouds and Aurora not the best mix in Southland New Zealand. @TamithaSkov . We are catching the tail end of this CME I think. #aurora. pic.twitter.com/y0xcAcZzbi

— Edwin Mabonga 🧢 (@Edwinmab1) April 24, 2023

Did you manage to see aurora in your place of living? Feel free to share your photos and tell us where you took them.

[via Space.com]