Solar Storm Sparks Stunning Global Northern Lights Display

Takeaways:

• A powerful solar storm, the strongest in over 20 years, struck Earth on Friday, causing spectacular displays of the Northern Lights across the globe.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center reported extreme G5 geomagnetic conditions, the first since 2003, which can disrupt communications, power grids, and navigation systems.

• The solar activity is linked to a large and magnetically complex sunspot cluster, NOAA region 3664, which may cause further strong flares and Coronal Mass Ejections as it remains in view.

• There have been reports of power grid irregularities and issues with high-frequency communications and GPS, with more X-class solar flares expected from the responsible sunspot cluster.

• The Northern Lights were visible much farther south than usual due to the intensity of the solar storm, and they may be visible again, weather permitting, with #Auroraborealis and #geomagneticstorm trending on social media.

References:

[1] In photos: Northern Lights light up the sky. Link

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