You’ve probably already seen the dazzling pics of the aurora that flooded social media over the weekend. Lucky onlookers were treated to streaks of green, pink, and purple dancing across the night sky from the UK to New Zealand.
𝑨𝑼𝑹𝑶𝑹𝑬𝑺 𝑩𝑶𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑬𝑺 𝑬𝑵 𝑭𝑹𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬 – Comme si vous y étiez en accéléré !
Timelapse d’une heure – Mont Saint-Michel – Nuit du 10 au 11 Mai 2024
𝑀𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑢 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑟𝑖𝑛 / Tous Droits Réservés#aurore #auroreboreale #france #northernlights #aurores #nuit pic.twitter.com/ipL1k9onGr— Mathieu Rivrin – Photographies (@mathieurivrin) May 11, 2024
The breathtaking display on May 10 to 12 was triggered by the largest solar storm in over 20 years.
Solar storms occur when the Sun emits enormous bursts of energy in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These send streams of charged particles flying across space where they slam into Earth’s magnetic field — mixing with gases in our atmosphere, and sparking the aurora.
The <3 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
The European Space Agency’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured the entire thing on camera.