Things rarely get this wild on the sun. Only every few decades does our star’s magnetic field rumble so much that it leads to an “extreme” solar storm. The consequences are a spectacular light show that bathed the sky over Germany in the most dazzling colors – from turquoise to magenta.
On Friday, experts from the US weather agency NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) warned of a level five solar storm. This category on the five-point scale was last reached in October 2003. The source region of the solar storms – a large sunspot cluster – is about 16 times the diameter of the Earth, according to NOAA experts. As NOAA expects, the solar storm is expected to continue through the weekend.