will they be visible to the naked eye or with a camera?

The material ejected by the Sun arrived on Earth. All that remains is to wait for the night… and the dawn!. On his X account, Eric Lagadec is just as impatient as many French people. This Thursday, October 10, all the lights are green for beautiful auroras. Now let’s clear the clouds!

Why these northern lights?

An intense solar storm is expected to hit Earth on Thursday, October 10 and cause northern lights in regions further south than usual, announced the American space weather agency (Noaa). It follows the solar flare that occurred on October 9, 2024. The Sun is close to its cyclical peak of activity. A peak which last May led to the most extreme solar storm since 2003.

When these particles arrive on Earth, they disrupt its magnetic field, sometimes resulting in impressive northern lights but also a degradation of high-frequency communications, disruptions for satellites and overloads on the electrical network.

Where in France?

The peak of the phenomenon should be visible to residents of northern France. Activity will be maximum in the first part of the night and in the middle of the night. Despite this, it is interesting to monitor all night because the phenomenon retains a large part of unpredictabilityadvises Ciel et Espace magazine.

What intensity?

The strength and structure of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are closely scrutinized. But not so easy to assess… More precise forecasts can only be communicated 15 to 30 minutes before the impact, when the storm will cross the dedicated satellites. For the moment, the geomagnetic storm is classified as level 4 on a scale of 5 according to Noaa. The May solar storm had reached level 5.

Visible to the naked eye or with a camera?

The pink-red color of the Northern Lights seen at our latitudes is difficult to see with the naked eye. It is therefore necessary for the aurora to reach a certain intensity to perceive it visually, or better yet, for green auroras, much easier to observe, to appear.details Sky and Space. On the other hand, the camera will be able to capture these red nuances without difficulty, even on the horizon with an exposure time of 5 to 10 s.

Reminder of important advice: look towards the North and avoid light pollution.

Bonus for astronomy fans

At dusk you can even look for comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas towards the west, but it is especially from October 11, 2024 and even more so on the 12th that it will become clearly visible at the very beginning of the nightwarns Ciel et Espace magazine.