Spectacular play of colors
Northern lights over Germany: chances of sightings in the coming days
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The probability of seeing the Northern Lights in Germany is extremely small. Nevertheless, more and more photos of the color spectacle in the German night sky are currently appearing. What are the chances in the coming days?
Northern lights sightings possible in the coming days and weeks
Basically, it is difficult to predict when the next northern lights will appear in the night sky. But as Dirk Schlesier, the director of the planetarium in Halle, explains to MDR, There is definitely a chance of being able to observe the nocturnal natural phenomenon in the coming days: “Solar activity remains quite high, so there is a possibility of northern light sightings in the next few days and weeks.”
According to the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), northern lights mostly occur in the far north between 60th and 70th parallel. For geographical classification: Oslo, for example, is below the 60th parallel, the Norwegian city of Tromsö just below the 70th. But the stronger the solar storms, the more likely visibility is in the southern latitudes.
Why are we currently seeing northern lights in this country?
Back in April, a spokesman for the Institute for Solar-Terrestrial Physics at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) announced that the current increase in sightings was not entirely unusual. Approximately every eleven years, in a so-called solar cycle, there are phases with weak and strong solar activity. We are currently approaching a maximum that we could reach next year. The following applies to the northern lights: The higher the solar activity, the greater the likelihood of sightings, even in southern latitudes.
Since solar activity is currently very high, as shown by the Kp index, which describes the disruption of the earth’s magnetic field by the solar wind, geomagnetic storms are increasingly occurring, triggering the light spectacle in the sky. High-energy solar wind particles are thrown into space at high speeds by eruptions on the sun’s surface. When these meet the earth’s magnetic field, the beautiful northern lights are created.
This was also the case on Monday, where northern lights could be seen in parts of Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, as several dpa reporters reported. The Kp index that night was at a maximum of 5.667.
When and where can you observe the northern lights?
spring and autumn are statistically the best times of year to discover the Northern Lights in Germany. The opportunities are greater in the north than in the south. In addition, you can only see the northern lights if the sky is clear and dark and you are looking north. Rural areas and the great outdoors are better observation locations compared to illuminated cities.
Sources: mdr.de, wetteronline.de, gfz-potsdam.de