Buzău (Padina) / Harghita (Vlăhița) Creidt photo: AstroNick / webcam Idokep

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Aurora Borealis Also Spotted in Romanian Skies

By Romania Journal Last updated May 11, 2024

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Last night, Romania witnessed the aurora borealis due to a strong geomagnetic storm, sparking numerous remarkable images of the rare occurrence across social media platforms.

Residents from several counties of Romania took photos showing the phenomenon and how it was present in different areas.

Last night, the aurora borealis appeared in regions of the northern hemisphere where it’s typically unseen. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a rare warning on Friday, the first in about 20 years, for a level 4 geomagnetic storm— the highest level being 5. Such storms can impact power grids and communication satellites. Later, it was reclassified as a G5 level storm.

Besides Romania, the aurora borealis was also visible in Central European countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Germany), but also in Great Britain and the USA, as far as southern Alabama and northern California.

According to Dr. Adrian Şonka, astronomer at the “Admiral Vasile Urseanu” Astronomical Observatory, the aurora borealis was visible from Romania, on the night of Friday to Saturday, at an intensity that has not been documented for hundreds of years.

However, the astronomer revealed that the images have been helped a little bit by the camera, that made colours more intense.

“You have to look towards the north and you have to wait, because these phenomena are unpredictable. Even if it is announced that they will be visible from somewhere, sometimes they are not. Now the aurora borealis has been seen from Romania, as it has not been seen for hundreds of years. We do not have any information from history or from our data so far, as if it had ever been seen in this way in Romania. Almost all of us who have observed it agree with this. But the pictures lie a little, because the device is sensitive to red and green – especially red. To the naked eye, the colors were not that intense. They were visible only after you got used to the darkness. After 10-15 minutes you could see shades of pink and green, but visually they weren’t as spectacular as they are in the photos, but they were really visible”, Adrian Şonka told Agerpres.

Romanians have “flooded” social media platforms with photos capturing the exquisite aurora borealis visible in some parts of the country, such as Iași, Prahova, Buzău, Tulcea, Bihor sau Cluj, but also in Republic of Moldova, and its capital, Chișinău.

More here.

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