India’s Aditya-L1 Joins Global Effort in Landmark Solar Storm Study

India’s first solar observatory, Aditya-L1, teamed up with six U.S. satellites to study the May 2024 solar storm, also called Gannon’s storm. The findings explain why this solar storm behaved unusually strongly.

Gannon’s Storm: Strongest in Two Decades

• The May 2024 storm was the strongest solar storm in over 20 years.
• It severely disturbed Earth’s environment, affecting:
  • Satellites
  • Communication systems
  • GPS networks
  • Power grids

What is a CME?

• The storm was caused by Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) — giant explosions on the Sun.
• A CME is a massive bubble of hot gas and magnetic energy ejected into space.
• When CMEs hit Earth, they interact with our magnetic shield, potentially causing major disruptions.

Magnetic Reconnection Observed

• Scientists discovered that the Sun’s magnetic fields inside the CME were breaking and rejoining, a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection.
• Normally, a CME carries a twisted magnetic rope that interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere.
• During Gannon’s storm, two CMEs collided, squeezing each other so strongly that magnetic field lines snapped and reconnected in new ways.
• This caused the storm to be far more intense than expected.

Enormous Scale of Magnetic Breakup

• The area of magnetic tearing and reconnection was about 1.3 million kilometers across — nearly 100 times the size of Earth.
• This is the first observation of such a giant magnetic breakup within a CME.
• Satellites also detected particles accelerating rapidly, confirming the magnetic reconnection event.

About Aditya-L1

• Launched in September 2023 via PSLV-C57, Aditya-L1 is India’s first solar observatory.
• It is positioned in a Halo-Orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point, allowing continuous study of solar activity.

Significance

• The study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, provides critical insights into solar storms.
• Understanding such extreme solar events is key to protecting satellites, communications, and power infrastructure on Earth.

Source: ISRO