Q: Hi Holly! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Holly: Hello! My name is Holly, an Iceland based guide and geologist. I was lucky to grow up in the beautiful countryside of Scotland, and have always had a great love for the outdoors. My interest in our natural world led me down the academic road, and I hold a PhD in geology (or more specifically, lava geochemistry!) from the University of Edinburgh. I am a keen rock climber and I also love spending time in the mountains hiking, skiing and running. Today I live and work in Iceland as a guide, which allows me to combine my passions for geology and the outdoors. I am a trained Wilderness First Responder, and I also hold the UK Mountain Leader and Rock Climbing Instructor awards. I look forward to helping you make the connection between the earth sciences and the wonderful places we are lucky to be able to travel on our beautiful planet!
Q: What was the May 2024 solar storm? Can you tell us more about what happened and why?
Holly: The May 2024 solar storm was the strongest to hit Earth in two decades, resulting in spectacular displays of aurora in locations across the globe. Many millions of people were fortunate to witness this stunning natural phenomenon that is only usually seen around the polar regions and high latitudes of our planet.
Q: What caused this atypical aurora/display of the northern lights?
Auroras (or Northern Lights as they are more commonly known in the Northern Hemisphere) that can be seen in our night skies are actually caused by the Sun. Our Sun is a star that consists of burning hydrogen and helium gasses with temperatures of up to 5,600 degrees celsius on its surface. It’s a hot, dynamic and unstable place! The Sun continually releases a stream of charged particles from its upper atmosphere, something we refer to as solar wind. The Earth’s magnetic field deflects most of the solar wind, however some of these particles get pulled into the Earth along its magnetic field lines and towards the North and South Pole. As the solar wind approaches Earth, it slams into the molecules in our atmosphere, causing a release of energy. The green we see in the aurora is characteristic of oxygen, the main gas found in our atmosphere.
Q: Where do we usually see aurora?
Typically, auroras are seen in an oval close to the polar regions, because this is where the solar wind gets dragged towards Earth, due to the shape of our magnetic field. This means that aurora hunters usually have to visit places in the far north or south of our planet, and countries such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Alaska and Iceland are typical destinations for aurora hopefuls.
Whilst we are accustomed to hearing about the Northern Lights (or the Aurora Borealis as they are officially called), there is an equivalent “Southern Lights” that occurs in the Southern Hemisphere, close to the South Pole. The official term for this is the Aurora Australis. These can be seen close to the Antarctic Circle, in places such as Australia, New Zealand and the southern part of South America.
Q: So, what’s the difference between an aurora and a solar storm?
In addition to the relatively constant solar wind, the Sun can also produce more intense activity, known as solar storms. These are caused by huge explosions from the sun, sending energy, light and high speed particles into space. As the energy of the solar wind or a solar storm increases, it is able to enter the Earth’s magnetic field at lower latitudes. This results in an expansion of the area where auroras occur, and in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern Lights can be witnessed in areas much further south than normal. The huge solar storm that occurred in May 2024 resulted in spectacular displays in places such as the US and UK, and visible auroras were seen as far south as Florida and northern India! Infact, the solar storm was so strong that it was even detected in the deep sea. For example, subsea observatories off the coast of Canada recorded temporary distortion of the Earth’s magnetic field as deep as 2.7 km beneath the surface! This is thought to be some of the deepest recordings of a solar storm ever captured.
Q: What does this mean for our earth? Are there any risks or implications of the strength of this year’s solar storm and its abnormality?
We are currently inside the peak of the Sun’s 11 year solar cycle, called the solar maximum.
During the solar maximum, the Sun’s magnetic field is highly contorted and twisted, making it more likely that the sun will eject large volumes of particles, energy and radiation. This means that the likelihood for big solar storms remains high during this period. Whilst these storms are not dangerous to humans on Earth because of our protective atmosphere and magnetic field, they can pose a threat to our technologies, and have the potential to disrupt satellites, communications and power grids. However, careful planning by engineers that operate these technologies meant that the effects from this storm were well managed and damage was minimal.
The current solar maximum is expected to last throughout most of 2024, so the possibility of further large storms remains quite high. Keep your eyes peeled for more aurora sightings in locations far away from the poles throughout the rest of the year!
Thank you Holly! It was a pleasure to learn from you, and stay tuned for more Holly content on our social feeds and blogs.