Yekaterinburg residents told about the northern lights over the city

Yekaterinburg residents observed the northern Lights over the city on the evening of January 20. An unusual natural phenomenon was observed on this day by residents of many Russian regions.

The photos were published in the AstroAlert — Observational Astronomy community on the VKontakte social network. The Northern Lights were captured in different parts of the country, including Krasnoyarsk, Udmurtia, Komi, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Tyumen and Sverdlovsk regions.

According to <url> news agency, according to astronomers, the northern lights are associated with magnetic storms. Solar particles directed into the atmosphere by a powerful disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field collide with gases. This is what causes the northern lights.

Earlier in the day, the IKI RAS laboratory reported that a G4.33 planetary magnetic storm was taking place on Earth, while the main question remains whether the highest level of G5, which has been observed only once in the last 20 years, in May 2024, will be reached in the coming hours.

The press service of the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy of the Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI RAS) reported that the second peak of the magnetic storm begins on Earth. It is indicated that geomagnetic indexes can be marked at a minimum of G4.

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