What causes the Aurora Borealis to be visible in parts of India and throughout the world?

The phenomenon known as Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, causes the night sky to brilliantly light up and display a broader range of colours.

To witness the scientific show, millions of people from all over the world go to northern hemisphere nations like Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland.

But for the first time ever, Aurora Borealis is now visible throughout North America and some regions of India. Although many who cannot afford to fly to see the phenomena are thrilled, it is shocking to learn that a major solar storm that blasted our planet is the cause of the massive Aurora Borealis.

What causes the Aurora Borealis?

During a solar storm, the Aurora Borealis appears in the sky. Put more simply, it is brought on by a solar outburst, which is an exponential rise in surface activity on the Sun. As a result, during the night, the sky lights up. However, it has a number of negative impacts, including the potential to induce mild network blackouts and interfere with navigation systems in addition to causing electricity outages.

There are more charged particles in solar flares. The sky turns blue, pink, and purple when they collide with the nitrogen and oxygen-dominated particles that make up the Earth's atmosphere. The entire colour range of the Aurora Borealis can be captured by digital cameras.

Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network was damaged by a massive solar storm, also known as a coronal mass ejection, which may have indicated the event's high severity. Last night's coronal mass ejections were categorised as G4 or severe by the US Space Weather Prediction Centre. In terms of geomagnetic storms, which have the potential to interfere with electrical systems, spacecraft operations, and other systems, G4 is regarded as the second-highest grade, with G5 being the highest.

The last time such powerful solar flares were seen was in 2003. Power outages and transformer damage resulted in some pandemonium in Sweden. The storm is now thought to last for a few days and is being created by a group of sunspots in the chilly, dark area. The Sun is ejecting material from this cluster once every six to twelve hours.

We anticipate getting one shock after another throughout the weekend, according to Brent Gordon, chief of the space weather services branch at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Centre.

Why do solar flares disrupt communication and power?

Aurora Borealis-causing solar flares can interfere with wireless power and communication, causing radio signal loss, cellular network outages, and damage to consumer and military satellite navigation systems.

Solar flares have the power to cause significant currents and magnetic field fluctuations, which could harm hardware. Solar flares mostly impact power grids that facilitate wireless networks. A CNN story states that in 1989, a solar flare in Quebec, Canada, caused a significant blackout that damaged transformers and other equipment.

This time, the Aurora Borealis is visible in more places than ever before, including India, due to the strength of the solar flare. There have been reports of aurora sightings in Ladakh and Hanle.