Geomagnetic storm 1st in smartphone era

In 2024, solar activity was near the maximum of its 11-year cycle. As a consequence, exceptionally magnificent auroras were seen this year all the way to central Europe, and even further south, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).

The 10 May geomagnetic storm was the first extreme space weather event to occur during the era of smartphones and social media, said the FMI press release.

This allowed millions of people from all around the world to witness exceptional auroral displays and share their observations online.

The international ARCTICS Working Group (Auroral Research Coordination: Towards Internationalised Citizen Science) collected citizen scientist observations during the storm. The ARCTICS collaborators gathered 696 responses from over 30 countries through an online survey and added these to 186 auroral observations submitted to the Skywarden database. In this way, the researchers gained insights into the effects of the storm and the extent of the auroras. The results are now published in the Geoscience Communication scientific journal.

The analysis of the collected data indicated that the aurora on 10 May was visible down to the mid-latitudes: in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, as well as in some parts of Asia. This suggests that the auroral oval extended further equatorwards than predicted by models.

The reports often mentioned red and purple or pink colours, which were even visible to the naked eye, in addition to the green.

“The red hues in the aurora indicate that the precipitating electrons coming from space and responsible for the aurora contained large amounts of so-called low-energy particles. These particles end up above 150 km altitude in the atmosphere”, said researcher Maxime Grandin from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

A free guide book to help citizen scientists and researchers leverage citizen science auroral observations The authors of the study also discuss the limitations of the collected data set and propose solutions to improve the data collection. One way to increase the usability of citizen science auroral observations is to provide recommendations and guidelines. Such guidelines are useful both to citizen scientists who strive to collect scientifically usable data and to researchers who wish to include citizen scientists in their research.

The ARCTICS Working Group released a free guide book containing practical advice for citizen scientists and researchers. The Aurora Field Guide and Handbook for Citizen Science includes information on auroral physics, tips for making observations, and how researchers and citizen scientists can interact with each other and collaborate to make new scientific discoveries.