The Northern Lights were visible in Romania on the night of Friday, May 10, to Saturday, May 11, due to a powerful geomagnetic storm. 

Last week's episode was one of the most intense and widespread episodes of the Northern Lights ever recorded at Romania's latitudes. Residents from several counties in the country took photographs capturing the phenomenon and how it manifested in different areas. 

The lights, or aurora borealis, were visible in the northern hemisphere in regions where they are not typically seen.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a rare geomagnetic storm warning on Friday, for the first time in about 20 years, at level 4 - with the highest level being 5 - signaling that the storm can affect power grids and communication satellites. Later, it was reclassified to level G5, according to Digi24.

The Northern Lights were seen in Romania, countries in Central Europe (Czech Republic, Poland, Germany), as well as in the United Kingdom and the US, reaching as far south as the state of Alabama and northern California. The phenomenon was also visible as far as northern Africa.

In Romania, people posted images from Bucharest and towns from all regions of the country, specifically from the counties of Iași, Prahova, Buzău, Tulcea, Bihor, or Cluj, as well as from the Republic of Moldova.

The Northern Lights occur when charged particles collide with the gases that make up the Earth's atmosphere around the magnetic poles. In the northern hemisphere, most of this activity occurs in the form of an oval structure known as the "Auroral Oval," covering latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees. When solar flares are strong, the phenomenon expands and can be observed farther south.

The Northern Lights were also visible from Romania in November of 2023. 

radu@romania-insider.com

(Opening photo: Inquam Photos/Cristi Vescan)