What are Northern Lights? Social media flooded with images of aurora dancing across heavens

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, May 11

The Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, graced the skies of the UK, on Friday night, captivating sky watchers from Liverpool to Sussex.

The dazzling phenomenon made a rare appearance, following one of the strongest geomagnetic storms in recent years, prompting the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to issue a solar storm warning.

What are the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights or auroras can be scientifically explained as the result of charged particles from the sun, interacting with the energisation of nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The swirling curtains of light dazzle spectators with their vibrant colours, ranging from green to pink and scarlet.

The most spectacular auroras occur when the sun emits massive clouds of particles known as coronal mass ejections, infusing the Earth’s magnetosphere with heightened activity, and painting the night sky with an ethereal glow.

Unbeliveable.. Scene😳💥 In Uk

The Solar geomagnatic storm triggered Northern Lights over the UK as we flew over London at mid night on Friday #Auroraborealis #NorthernLights #auroreboreale #solarstorm #SolarFlare #aurora #Eurovision2024#eurovisiongr pic.twitter.com/7TdCqyW7PJ

— SHEELENDRA SINGH (@SHEELENDRA_1993) May 11, 2024

Enthusiastic onlookers flooded social media with images of the vibrant lights dancing across the heavens. From Kent to Norflok and even parts of Scotland, the auroras painted the night with hues of green, pink, and scarlet.

That’ll do! There goes all my luck for the century #aurora pic.twitter.com/WIS75ymzML

— Tom Williams (@tw__astro) May 11, 2024

Um. So. Guys. This is my yard in FLORIDA… #flwx #aurora pic.twitter.com/TX4JtcfsYr

— Logan Parham (@StormChaserLo) May 11, 2024

The NOAA raised concerns about the potential impact of the geomagnetic activity on infrastructure, including satellites and the power grid.

According to BBC Weather, clear skies across most of the UK were the optimal conditions for witnessing the auroras, particularly Northern Ireland, Scotland, and northern England.  

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, anticipation grew as the NOAA said the possibility of the lights being visible as far south as Alabama and northern California in the United States tonight and over the weekend.

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