New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released remarkable images captured by its Aditya-L1 spacecraft, showcasing a recent period of intense solar activity.
In a statement, ISRO detailed the events: “The Active Region AR13664 on the Sun, during its passage from May 8 to 15, 2024, erupted several X-class and M-class flares, accompanied by Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) on May 8 and 9.” These eruptions led to a significant geomagnetic storm on May 11, 2024.
Two of the spacecraft’s remote sensing instruments, SoLEXS and HEL1OS, documented these events on May 8-9, 2024. Additionally, the in-situ payloads, ASPEX and MAG, captured the phenomenon during May 10-11, 2024, as the spacecraft passed through the L1 point.
ISRO noted that these observations were also corroborated by data from the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, XPoSat, and the USO-PRL ground-based facility. During the series of solar eruptions, the Solar Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) and the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) onboard Aditya-L1 were in baking and calibration modes, preventing them from observing the events on May 10-11. However, both instruments were fully operational by May 14.
Aditya-L1, launched on September 2 of last year, is India’s first space-based mission dedicated to studying the Sun. The mission aims to provide critical insights into solar activities and their impact on space weather.
