Stand: October 11, 2024, 4:52 a.m
Von: Romina Kunze, Tanja Banner
PressSplit
The northern lights fascinated all of Germany back in May. They are rather rare in southern climes. The breathtaking views are thanks to the active sun.
Update from October 11th, 7:13 a.m.: They had announced their arrival – and Germany was once again fascinated by the colorful northern lights. In many regions they were so strong that they could be seen with the naked eye. The rare natural phenomenon colored the sky above all in Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. But colorful veils were also spotted over Bavaria.
There had already been sightings of the northern lights in Germany in April and August. In the local spheres, the color spectacle is actually atypical, as the charged solar particles have to penetrate particularly deeply into the earth’s atmosphere in order to be seen. They usually occur in the polar regions. But increased solar activity sends the particles in storms to more southern regions.
Solar activity is currently heading towards a peak. In an eleven-year solar cycle, solar activity increases and decreases, as a spokesman for the Institute for Solar-Terrestrial Physics at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) explained in the spring. The next maximum is imminent and is expected in 2025. Statistically speaking, spring and autumn are the best seasons to discover the northern lights in Germany.
Solar storm is approaching Earth: Northern lights could be visible in Germany today
First report from October 10th, 10:27 a.m.: Frankfurt – The Northern Lights community is currently in great excitement. The reason for this could be observed on the sun on Tuesday (October 8th). A solar flare took place there, throwing a huge cloud of plasma into space. This coronal mass ejection (CME) now flies through space – if the Earth is in the “direction of the shot”, it can be hit. On the one hand, this creates breathtaking northern lights, but on the other hand, it can also cause problems for the infrastructure on Earth.
Fast plasma cloud is heading towards Earth – Northern Lights possible in Germany
The solar flare of October 8th was classified at a magnitude of X1.8 – the Just a few days ago, the sun experienced its strongest eruption since 2017 (X9.1 on October 3rd). The plasma cloud that was ejected from the sun on October 8th is traveling through space at an incredible speed of around 4.3 to 4.7 million km/h – and is heading straight for Earth. It is the fastest plasma cloud that experts at the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in the US have seen in a long time.
According to predictions, the charged plasma could hit the Earth’s magnetic field as early as Thursday (October 10), potentially triggering auroras as strong as those last May. The SWPC has issued a Storm Watch for a G4 geomagnetic storm for October 10 and 11 – just one level below the G5 peak seen during May’s Great Aurora Borealis. A “Storm Watch” at this level is “very rare,” the forecast center said.
When the Earth’s magnetic field best interacts with the solar storm
Under the right conditions, the colorful northern lights can appear in the sky, which can possibly even be seen unusually far in the south. However, as experts emphasize, the conditions must be right. “Two magnets that have the same polarity repel each other. When they are opposite, they connect and the magnets stay together. “It’s exactly the same thing with geomagnetic storms,” SWPC’s Shawn Dahl said at a press conference.
“If the magnetic field in the CME is the same as Earth’s, we are unlikely to reach severe levels,” he said. However, it is different if the “connection is cheap”. Then the full potential of the CME could come to light – strong northern lights far into the south are then possible.
There are a few important requirements for the northern lights over Germany
However, one important requirement must be met: it must be dark at the observation site and the sky must be clear. Then you should look north and you can also use a smartphone or camera to see the northern lights. Whether the northern lights can be seen in Germany at all also depends on when the charged plasma from the sun reaches the earth.
When will the plasma cloud reach the Earth’s magnetic field? How strong will the geomagnetic storm really be? Experts can only say more about the properties of the plasma cloud when it is still around 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth. At this so-called Lagrange point 1, the “Discovr” and “ACE” satellites are waiting to measure the properties of the plasma cloud. If these are correct, there could well be another big storm with numerous Northern Lights sightings – like the last one in mid-May.
Are northern lights like mid-May possible? “The opportunity exists”
After arriving at the satellite, it takes about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the speed of the plasma cloud, before the earth’s magnetic field is hit. How strong the northern lights will be will then become apparent in practice. However, SWPC expert Dahl is still noticeably cautious about his prediction: “Will it be a global phenomenon or a phenomenon that can be observed throughout the United States, like the storm in May? It’s hard to say until we can assess it properly.” However, he adds that “there is a chance that something like what happened in May could happen again.” (tab)
