“Severe geomagnetic storm” could bring northern lights further south | Space

A “severe geomagnetic storm” could bring stronger and more visible northern lights further south than usual this Sunday and Monday. The alert comes from the North American Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which monitors solar activity.

When there are solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CME)a wave of particles bombards the Earth’s upper atmosphere: the most benign consequence is the auroras (borealis and australis), but geomagnetic storms can also disrupt electrical systems.

This Sunday NOAA https://twitter.com/NWSSWPC/status/1639123568184401921 (on a scale from G1 to G5, the most serious) — in these cases, the organization notifies “infrastructure operators that may be affected to mitigate possible impacts”, namely in the operation of satellites and GPS, but there is no cause for concern “for the general public”.

The coronal mass ejection happened on Friday and the particles reached the Earth’s atmosphere this Sunday afternoon.

The immediate consequence is the expansion of the areas where the auroras can be seen, which in these situations are sometimes visible at much lower latitudes than usual — if the weather conditions help and the sky is not covered in clouds.

An increase in the Sun’s activity was already predicted for this year, as the cycle lasts 11 years and should now reach its peak, triggering “more storms and solar winds, and coronal mass ejections – phenomena that give rise to aurora borealis”, explained Ricardo Gafeira, researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences, at the University of Coimbra, at the beginning of the year, to PÚBLICO.

And what is the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights in Portugal? “It is extremely unlikely, although it could happen, since we are talking about peak solar activity”, said Fernando Pinheiro, scientist at the Earth and Space Research Center at the University of Coimbra.