On the night of Thursday October 10 to Friday October 11, 2024, an impressive spectacle of the Northern Lights occurred in France. Will it still be possible to see such spectacular auroras next night?
The night of Thursday October 10 to Friday October 11, 2024 was all pink and colorful in mainland France. Almost everywhere in France, French people were able to contemplate and take photos of the spectacular Northern Lights. It was thanks to a powerful solar flare, which occurred on the night of Tuesday October 8 to 9, that a severe geomagnetic storm was able to reach the Earth. These northern lights could be observed at the start of the night.
After the wonder of this poetic night, many French people wonder if it will be possible to see the Northern Lights again the following night, from Friday October 11 to Saturday October 12. Unfortunately, the forecasts are not very optimistic. “ Will there be one again? We will monitor the data, but the solar storm may have weakened too much by night », indicates on X the COMEA (Operational Center for Meteorology of the Alps Space).
More Northern Lights in France this Friday evening? It’s not won
« There are still dawns where it’s dark… Let’s hope it lasts until tonight here (not won) », Commented astrophysicist Éric Lagadec, from the Côte d’Azur observatory, this Friday morning. “ It’s calming down when it comes to the Northern Lights… it might be difficult to see them this evening “, he clarified later in the day, around 5 p.m.
Aurora hunters know well that accurately predicting these events is very complicated. Although scientists who scan the Sun are on the lookout for flares, the exact moment at which material ejected from the star reaches Earth is often known shortly before the auroras occur. So you have to be on the lookout! The same goes for knowing if the geomagnetic storm loses intensity in the day following its arrival on Earth.
In the coming months, we can hope for other auroras visible in France
Even if auroras seem unlikely in France on the evening of October 11, we should not be discouraged. “ There will be other opportunities, the Sun is very active these months and could create new opportunities », Estimates the COMEA. The Sun follows an 11-year cycle, marked by a minimum and a maximum of its activity (determined by the number of sunspots).
Currently, we are approaching the maximum of July 2025, which could suggest other intense eruptions, and perhaps the Northern Lights still visible as far away as France in the months to come. So there’s still time to learn how to take photos of the Northern Lights with your phone, because it might come in handy soon.