Residents of the northern state of Nuevo León witnessed an exceptional sighting of the aurora borealis on Tuesday, the result of an intense solar storm.
The Astronomical Society of Nuevo León confirmed the unusual event, explaining that it was the result of intense solar activity monitored in the preceding days and that they would “be on the lookout for the possibility of it happening again on Wednesday.”
¡Auroras boreales fueron visibles desde México!
La tormenta geomagnética provocada por la actividad del Sol originó este espectáculo que fue visible en varios estados del norte, como Zacatecas, Nuevo León, Baja California, Sonora, entre otros.
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The storm was most visible in the municipality of García, where residents were able to appreciate reddish, greenish and purple lights in the sky thanks to the town’s low levels of light pollution.
Images of the event quickly went viral on social media, along with messages of amazement from those who witnessed it.
According to reports from the National Meteorological Service (SMN) and astronomical observatories, geomagnetic activity this week reached high levels due to a G4 solar storm, one of the most intense in recent years. These conditions made the phenomenon visible in various parts of the Northern Hemisphere, including northern Mexican states such as Chihuahua, and Coahuila, besides Nuevo León.
The spectacle was also visible in the United States, including Oklahoma, Washington State, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho and South Dakota.
Experts explained that the Northern Lights are produced by the interaction of charged particles from the sun with the Earth’s magnetic field. Although this phenomenon is usually visible in regions near the poles, such as Canada or Norway, during periods of high solar activity it can extend to lower latitudes, as happened on this occasion.
While extremely rare in Mexico, this is not the first time that northern lights have been spotted in our country.
In 1789, residents of Mexico City and other areas such as Guanajuato, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Guadalajara, Zacatecas and Oaxaca reported seeing the aurora borealis. The phenomenon caused astonishment and even fear, as it was not well understood at the time.
Similar sightings happened again in 1859, during the famous solar storm known as the Carrington Event, and again in 2024, when a very intense geomagnetic storm formed auroras borealis in the skies of Michoacán, Querétaro and Mexico City.
With reports from NMás and Vanguardia
