Par
Lucie Fraisse
Published on
Oct 11, 2024 at 9:15 a.m.
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Those who stayed up late and stepped outside may have seen them. On the night of Thursday October 10 to Friday October 11, 2024, the Northern Lights were visible in the sky of the Haute-Garonne and Toulouselike almost everywhere in France.
Linked to a high intensity magnetic storm
A phenomenon linked to a solar flare and a high intensity magnetic storm, identical to that experienced last May.
“The KP index, which is the probability index of having the Northern Lights, was at 8 at Toulouse,” explains Benjamin Peter, journalist at Cité de l’espace. Knowing that in our latitudes, from 7, we can hope to see something. The conditions were therefore really very favorable. »
The KP index is still strong this Friday morning: there are still northern lights in the sky at this very moment, but as it is daytime, we cannot see them.
Long break
To be able to immortalize last night’s polar lights in photography, you needed a little technique: a camera or a phone placed on a stand and a long break.
“What we see in the photos does not exactly correspond to what we saw with the naked eye,” explains Benjamin Peter who immortalized the phenomenon south of Toulouse.
Several Internet users have in any case captured beautiful images of the phenomenon, Toulouse and in the department.
Soon new polar auroras?
We are witnessing repeated aurora phenomena this year, because the sun is experiencing particularly strong activity.
“The sun goes through eleven-year cycles,” explains Benjamin Peter. This means that every eleven years it is very active and can eject a lot of material during solar flares. We are currently reaching a peak, which means we can still expect to see the Northern Lights for about a year. »
The My Aurora Forecast application allows you to follow real-time information on the Northern Lights and the probability of seeing them in the sky.
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