Astronomer captures rare 'giant sunspot' that causes Northern Lights

Although, the northern lights were not sighted in the Gulf country like other parts of the world but one of its astronomer, Mohammad Odeh, who is chairman of the of International Astronomy Centre (IAC), shared images of the giant flames bursting from the sun.

It showed the beginning of the solar storm which triggered the most powerful geomagnetic storm the planet has ever seen in 20 years.

Odeh used special telescopes to capture photos of the sun from the IAC's Astronomical Seal Observatory in Abu Dhabi, Khaleej Times reported.

A giant sunspot can be seen in Odeh’s first image while the second picture shows giant flames emanating from the sun:

The astronomer said that the sun saw four strong flares during the past two days. The first one was recorded at 1pm, UAE time, on May 9; then at 10pm on the same day; at 10.54am on Friday; and at 5.23am on Saturday.

"When these emissions reach Earth, they cause disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field and cause the appearance of the aurora borealis. Due to the intensity of these explosions and emissions, the aurora borealis was seen in areas that had not been seen for a long time," the expert explained.

The incredible sightings of the northern lights in the northern hemisphere came from the first flare that struck Earth at 8pm, GMT(12am, UAE time), on Friday.

"The second emission is expected to arrive today, Saturday, at 11pm GMT, and the third emission is expected to arrive tomorrow, Sunday, at 10am, while the fourth emission is expected to arrive tomorrow, Sunday, at 11 noon," he said.