It was no coincidence that Bart Meder from Gerl (in the province of Antwerp) was able to capture beautiful photos of the northern lights last night. Kempen residents have been traveling north for years to see the aurora borealis and monitor solar indicators via a special app. Last night the parameters turned out to be unexpectedly very good.
“There are three important variables,” Meader explains. “The magnetic field of the particles, the velocity and the density. Suddenly I noticed that all the values were very good. I stood outside until one in the morning to observe the aurora, but unfortunately nothing happened.”
Meader then decided to sleep, but left his camera to record the so-called “star trail.” Then the device takes pictures continuously. “When I woke up and went to check, I saw the northern lights appear in some of the pictures. It must have only been a flash for a minute or two, and then it was gone. I removed some of the haze from the pictures and then you can see them really beautifully.”
Why are the northern lights red in his pictures? “The red color is the top of the northern lights. We see that here because the Earth is bending and… (Green, ed.) “The bottom is often completely covered in light pollution,” he says.
Tonight and tomorrow too
Northern lights expert Sander Vankanet of SpaceWeatherLive confirms that it was an unexpectedly good night for the northern lights. “The impact was greater than expected,” he says. “Kp index (Global Geomagnetic Activity Index, ed.) At first it showed only Kp5, which is not enough to see the aurora for us. But it ended up being Kp7. “We sent it out to the world at the last minute with an automated tweet.”
Conditions are still good. “There is also a chance tonight and tomorrow evening, but everything should go well. A lot depends on the data. We will have to wait and see what happens in the end. It is very difficult, and still is, to predict a geomagnetic storm in advance.
To be clear: Last night’s northern lights were probably only visible photographically. “For you to be able to see it with the naked eye, you have to be in a very dark area,” Vancanette says. “Then there would have been more haze on the northern horizon, somewhat similar to the Milky Way. In the Netherlands, including Nijmegen, this was visible with the naked eye.
To see the aurora with the naked eye in our country, Kp8 or Kp9 is required, but this will also be available in the near future. “It’s quite extraordinary, but we are gradually moving towards solar maximum, so it is possible. Around 2025 we will be at solar maximum itself. There will certainly be opportunities to see it with the naked eye in the near future due to increased solar activity. Photography There is more Of the possibilities. This year we have already succeeded twice in February and April, last night was the third time.
If you want to check if conditions are good for the aurora borealis, you can visit the website www.poollicht.be. There you will see the Kp indicator at the top. You can also receive an automatic warning via the SpaceWeatherLive app or via X.
