An unusually strong solar storm swept across the Northern Hemisphere early on Saturday, producing stunning displays of color in the sky, international news outlets reported.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm warning after a solar eruption reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours sooner than anticipated.
The effects of the Northern Lights, which were prominently on display in the UK, were forecasted to linger throughout the weekend and possibly into next week.
NOAA alerted operators of power plants and spacecraft in orbit, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to take precautions.
According to the news outlets, skywatchers took photos of the spectacular phenomenon in parts of the United States, including California, Missouri, and Oregon, as well as other countries such as China, New Zealand, and Australia.
Friday’s storm marks NOAA’s first issuance of a severe geomagnetic storm watch since 2005. The most intense solar storm in recorded history happened in 1859 and prompted auroras in Central America.
Since Wednesday, the sun has unleashed powerful solar flares, resulting in at least seven outbursts of plasma. Each eruption, known as a coronal mass ejection, carries billions of tons of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona.
NOAA said that these flares appear to be associated with a sunspot measuring 16 times the diameter of Earth, as part of the sun’s escalating activity leading up to the peak of its 11-year cycle.
“This storm poses a risk for high-voltage transmission lines for power grids, not the electrical lines ordinarily found in people’s homes,” NOAA space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl said. “Satellites also could be affected, which in turn could disrupt navigation and communication services here on Earth.”
NASA said the storm posed no serious threat to the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station.