- 4408 - SUN - eruption on March 24, 2024. - The sun erupted over the weekend, flinging electromagnetic radiation towards Earth, even illuminating skies with spectacular aurora borealis. For the first time, ESA's satellites, unlikely space weather duo of SMOS and Swarm, tracked the severe solar storm which warped Earth's magnetic field.
------------------------- 4408
- SUN -
eruption on March 24, 2024
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- Space weather which is electromagnetic
radiation and particles emitted by the sun in the form of solar flares and
coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that can both dazzle and destroy. It can cause
awe-inspiring auroras, but can also take out satellites, communications and
even power grids.
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- Early on Saturday 23 March 2024, the sun
released a strong X1.1 solar flare, the most powerful possible type, from a
particularly active region pointing directly towards Earth. The news of an associated coronal mass
ejection (CME), heading right at us, put aurora-chasers and space weather
scientists alike on high alert.
-
- For “Swarm” scientists monitoring Earth's
magnetic field, it was the perfect chance to put the three-satellite
constellation's new near-real time data to good use. Each “Swarm satellite” carries a
magnetometer to measure the strength of Earth's magnetic field. This magnetic
field is constantly changing and responds particularly strongly to space
weather events.
-
- The CME arrived far sooner than expected,
causing a geomagnetic storm reaching severe levels on the afternoon of Sunday
24 March. As the data quickly became
available, Swarm Alpha was the first of the low Earth orbiting satellites to
measure changes in Earth's magnetic field.
-
- ESA’s “Proba-2 SWAP” was able to capture the solar flare which
erupted from the surface of the sun. The X1.1 solar event, the most powerful
possible type, was also associated with a solar particle event and an
Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, which had space weather watchers on high
alert for signs of the aurora.
-
- Coronal mass ejections such as this have
the power to take out satellites, communications and Earth infrastructure,
which had ESA’s Space Weather Office on alert for potential hazards. The
resulting geomagnetic storm arrived much sooner than anticipated on the
afternoon of 24 March 2024 and was registered as severe.
-
- Using the “Kp index” as a metric (a
planetary geomagnetic index showing the level of disturbance to Earth’s
magnetic field), the storm reached the second highest level possible, Kp 8.
-
- While this geomagnetic storm was relatively
short-lived, and there were no major impacts or disturbances reported, the
active region of the sun from which the X-class solar flare erupted would
remain potentially hazardous for a number of days following the event on 23
March.
-
- Swarm Bravo soon provided another
perspective, showing large changes to Earth's magnetic field which reached
lower latitudes during its peak. While
the storm was relatively short-lived, the disturbance to Earth's magnetic field
was incredibly strong, and the impacts are still being analyzed.
-
- According to ESA's Space Weather office,
the active region of the sun responsible has been releasing further M-class
flares, not quite as strong, ever since, and there's a 40% chance of a further
X-class flare in the coming days.
-
- ESA's “Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity”
(SMOS) satellite was among the first in line to capture the solar radio burst
associated with the solar flare. The
main instrument of SMOS is an interferometer radiometer known as “Miras”, which
normally detects "L-band" radio waves emitted from Earth. This allows
us to measure geophysical parameters like soil moisture, sea surface salinity
and sea ice thickness.
-
- Due to its position in orbit, however,
SMOS's antenna also has the sun in its field of view and solar flares also
release radio waves. For Earth
observation, these signals are removed as noise. But space weather scientists
had other ideas. With almost 24-hour near-real time monitoring of the sun, SMOS
can detect effects of solar flares on the global navigation satellite system
(GNSS), as well as flight radar and L-band communications.
-
- Following a particularly strong solar flare
in December 2023, a number of satellites lost GPS contact with ground stations
in South America. SMOS was able to narrow down the cause, linking it to the
solar event.
-
- When a CME hits Earth's magnetosphere, we
can see the effects as auroras lighting up the polar skies. The Swarm
satellites register the warping of Earth's magnetic field. We tend to see a
much stronger magnetic field high above the poles, and a significant weakening
at the equator.
-
- The sun, which goes through peaks and
troughs of activity, is currently ramping up to its 'solar maximum' in 2025.
That means we're likely to see stronger solar flares, and more regular bouts of
space weather in the months to come.
-
- With SMOS directly detecting what happens
on the sun, giving advance warning of GNSS disruption, and Swarm providing
complementary data about what happens closer to home, we have a unique new
perspective on the effect of space weather on Earth.
-
- Monitoring space weather is a key activity
of ESA's Space Safety Program, which is soon to be bolstered by ESA's “Vigil
mission”. Vigil, which is due for launch
in 2031, will monitor the side of the sun, spotting areas of potentially
hazardous solar activity before they rotate into view of Earth.
-
- Vigil provides the first 24/7 operational
data from deep space by ESA, increasing the advance warning of key space
weather effects from 12–18 hours up to four to five days in advance. It will
allow us to be much more prepared for hazardous solar events, including
potentially destructive geomagnetic storms.
-
- We might have to wait a while for the
results to come in. As Vigil is taking up a position 150 million km behind Earth, it'll take 26
months after launch for any data to start coming in. But when it does, along with the information
gleaned from Swarm and SMOS, we'll be better equipped than ever to understand
the effects of space weather on Earth's system.
-
-
March 27, 2023 SUN
- eruption on March 24, 2024 4401
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--------------------- --- Wednesday, March 27,
2024
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