BENGALURU: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have decoded the impact of the solar storm on the Earth’s magnetic shield using the information obtained in the Aditya-L1 mission.
Of the many solar storms that occur, one of them had impacted the Earth’s magnetic field in October 24. The report titled- ‘Extreme Geoeffectiveness by the Turbulent Sheath of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICME) of the 2024 October Space Weather Event’, highlighted the data captured by Aditya-L1.
The scientists noted that the storm was caused by a massive eruption of solar plasma material from the Sun. The study also revealed the severe effects occurred during the impact of the turbulent region of the solar storm.
They noted that this turbulent region strongly compressed the Earth’s magnetic field, pushing it unusually closer to the Earth and briefly exposing some satellites in geostationary orbit to harsh space conditions. They pointed that this phenomenon occurs only during severe space weather events. Currents in the auroral region (high latitudes) super intensified, potentially heating the Earth’s upper atmosphere and causing enhanced atmospheric escape.
Space weather refers to the conditions in space that are caused by transient activities on the Sun, such as solar plasma eruptions. These affect satellites, communication and navigation services and power grid infrastructure on Earth. During such strong space weather events, Earth’s magnetic shield can be significantly disturbed.
The study had revealed that the most severe effects occurred during the impact of the turbulent region of the solar storm, which was identified with the help of Aditya-L1 observations. The Aditya-L1 had captured the interaction with Earth’s magnetosphere. The Earth’s magnetosphere acts as an invisible shield that protects people from harmful charged particles coming from the Sun.