Why intense northern lights could soon occur

There is a reason to believe that in the next few weeks especially impressive northern lights will be observed. The background is the so-called Russell-McPherron-Effektabout which writes.

This is an attempt to explain why, statistically speaking, during the Equinoxes im March and September particularly intense northern lights occur. As an equinox or Equinoxes are the days on which day and night are approximately the same length.

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A corresponding, northern lights in March and September would occur more frequently because the Earth’s magnetic fields are aligned in such a way that more solar wind is allowed through.

The theory is that even a slight solar wind can cause spectacular northern lights. The next equinox is on Sunday, 22. September. The effect is said to occur in the weeks surrounding this date.

Active phase of the sun

At the moment it is also the case that the sun particularly active is. There are indications that our star is already in the solar maximum could be located. The currently high number of sunspots suggests this.

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The sunspots are signs of particularly strong magnetic fields. These are exactly what can then be done Flares or coronal mass ejections lead. The particles that are thrown towards the earth interact with the earth’s atmospherewhich creates northern lights.

But the effects of solar storms can also be more dramatic. This is how it can happen Disturbances of sensitive ones Radio and electronic equipment and therefore failures occur. In the past, there have been disruptions to the satellite navigation system due to solar storms GPS.

Danger to satellites

And satellites themselves are also at risk from the sun’s mass ejections. A solar storm once destroyed this 40 Starlink satellites. You cannot protect such infrastructure from solar storms, you can only prepare for possible failures.

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Carrington-Event

This was the most extreme solar storm event to date Carrington-Event in September 1859. This is still considered a reference for such an extreme event to this day. Records show that the storm Telegraph lines to burn brought and northern lights until after Because made visible.

Only the low level of electrification in the mid-19th century prevented things from getting worse. A comparable event today would naturally have catastrophic consequences.