This past weekend, social media lit up like the Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights that were visible in some parts of South Africa. Photos of the historic event appeared from coast to coast and even from central South Africa on social media. According to the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) a solar storm hit the Earth throughout the night on Friday May 10 and continued until Saturday May 11. A geomagnetic storm occurs when charged particles from the Sun, caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME), interact with the Earth’s magnetic field. The impact of such a storm on technological systems can be significant, potentially disrupting satellite communications, power grids and GPS systems. However, it is also the origin of the northern and southern light. Lucian Kok, a resident of Eksteenskuil in Keimoes in the Northern Cape, observed the historic event with thousands of South Africans on Saturday morning and captured it with his camera.
