Observers across the UK treated to brilliant display of aurora borealis

Image: Alfredo Gutierrez Andres, Cooden, East Sussex.

Observers the length and breadth of the United Kingdom were treated to a brilliant display of the aurora borealis overnight on Thursday/Friday, 10/11 October 2024, during an extremely strong geomagnetic storm sparked by a long-duration X-class solar flare and coronal mass ejection or CME. The flare occurred at 0156 UTC on 9 October in the centre of the solar disc facing Earth. Particles from the eurption arrived at 1515 UTC on Thursday travelling at nearly 2.4 million kiolmetres per hour (1.5 million miles per hour).

“This is a very speedy CME,” said Shawn Dahl, Service Coordinator for US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center. “It’s the fastest CME that we’ve measured that had a total Earth directed component in the solar cycle thus far.”

The storm registered as a G5, the maximum on the space weather scale used by NOAA when it issues storm warnings.

The aurora borealis or Northern Lights are usually not visible at lower latitudes but this is the second G5 storm this year to put on displays for observers in the south of the UK.

“That is highly unusual,” said Dahl. “I think that just points to how active this solar cycle has been and how much energy the Sun is capable of releasing due to all the magnetic changes and things going on this particular solar cycle.”

Here’s a selection of images we received from observers in the south-east. Submit your images for publication in Astronomy Now by emailing them to: gallery2024@astronomynow.com

Image: David Gould, Battle, East Sussex.
Image: AN Graphic by Greg Smye-Rumsby, Tonbridge, Kent.
Image: Joe Ford, Crowhurst, East Sussex.