The solar storm of rare intensity that reached Earth on the weekend caused problems in several countries, affecting to a small extent telecommunications, electricity, the geo-location network (GPS), satellites, but also the International Space Station located 400 kilometers from Earth, however, it offered an impressive colorful sky spectacle, which was briefly visible from Cyprus as well.
In a statement to KYPE, the President of the Cyprus Space Exploration Agency, George Danos, said that the Sun will be at its 11-year maximum this year and next, and that this weekend's solar storm, which was particularly intense, was the largest recorded since 2003.
Off the chart awe & wonder here. All around us #Dawn #Sgeppey pic.twitter.com/x4TlDpuTlO
— Dr Paula Owens FRGS (@Primageographer) May 10, 2024
The magnificent aurora borealis was visible even in Cyprus on Friday night into Saturday around 1am. "It became visible from automatic cameras mounted on Troodos recording the sky and appeared as a red color on the horizon for a short period of time," Mr Danos said.
The Sun is currently near the peak of its activity based on its 11-year cycle. Coronal mass emission originates from a sunspot that is about 16 times the diameter of Earth.
How it affected the planet
The solar storm mainly affected northern countries such as Scandinavia where there were serious problems with electricity and in particular transformers were damaged and there was a power outage.
Also, Mr. Danos said that the solar storm also affected the GPS system used in various processes. One of these processes is in the agricultural sector where farmers plow with automatic machines. The solar storm affected the system causing it to not function accurately.
Due to the solar storm reaching Earth over the weekend, it did not affect the Stock Market.
If the stock exchanges were open, he said, it could also affect transactions, explaining that some exchanges use GPS to accurately record the time when a transaction is made so that there is no dispute as to who did the first or second transaction.
Menomonie Wisconsin #Aurora pic.twitter.com/HiCQWY1n0f
— NorthernWisconsinWX (@xtremewxzy) May 11, 2024
It also affected radio and television broadcasts to a lesser extent.
As for the astronauts who are in the Space Station 400 kilometers from Earth, Mr. Danos said that NASA has taken the necessary measures to protect them.
The solar storm also affected the satellites around our planet but measures were taken and therefore there were no problems.
"Since in 2024 and 2025 the Sun goes through this maximum, I do not rule out that this phenomenon will happen again in the next year or so" he concluded.
The spectacular northern lights caused by the solar storm became visible in many parts of the world, even in areas that are not usually lucky enough to observe it.
The US Space Weather Forecast Center rated the geomagnetic storm at Category 4 (on a five-point scale).
Source: KYPE
