Travellers in Ladakh were shocked to find the skies aflame with vibrant lights when a powerful geomagnetic storm impacted Earth’s magnetic fields, producing fantastic auroras. The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) observed this unusual phenomena atop Mount Saraswati.
In portions of Norway, Alaska, and other nations, auroras are typically seen at higher altitudes.
According to reports, an aurora has never before been photographed in India. The surreal phenomena, which is essentially caused by a collision between the plasma particles blasted by the Sun and the Earth’s magnetic field, was in fact filmed by the 360-degree camera atop the IAO in Ladakh Hanle.
In reference to this, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics said that seeing aurora at such a low latitude is highly rare. This extraordinary sight, according to reports, occurred on April 21 at 11:42 p.m. The Sun unleashed a coronal mass ejection towards the Earth at 11:42 PM on April 21, according to the IAO. This CME (moving at a speed of 500–600 km/s) was connected to an M1 solar outburst. On April 23, at 10 PM, the CME made a late arrival at Earth.
After a coronal mass ejection was launched from the Sun on April 21, the aurora was photographed on the night of April 22–23. The CME slammed the Earth at a speed of 21,60,000 km/h, according to Wageesh Mishra, an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
According to the IAO, the auroras’ nighttime descent to lower-than-usual latitudes has resulted in unusual sightings from China, Ladakh in India, and Europe. They claim that the last time such a powerful geomagnetic storm happened was in 2015.
Approximately 66.5 degrees north and south of the equator, high-latitude regions close to the Arctic and Antarctic circles are where auroras are most frequently observed. It is quite uncommon to see this occurrence in India at such low latitudes.
How did it happen?
So how did this extraordinary event take place at such a lower latitude than usual?
A coronal mass ejection (CME) was sent towards Earth on Friday, April 21, as a result of an explosion on the Sun. This CME was connected to an M1-class solar flare of moderate size.
Space weather specialists had predicted that this flare would cause a G-1 or G-2 class (small to moderate) geomagnetic storm, but instead, late on April 23, at 10 PM IST, an unusual G-4 class severe geomagnetic storm struck Earth.
The spectacular Northern Lights descended to previously unheard-of mid-to-low latitudes over the US, in brightly lighted European cities, and even over China and India as a result of the geoeffective CME. According to reports, such a sharp decline hasn’t occurred since 2015!
When solar CMEs carrying billions of tonnes of plasma that are embedded with the magnetic field of the sun arrive at Earth, they cause significant disruptions in the magnetosphere known as geomagnetic storms or solar storms.
A spectacular burst of energy is produced when charged particles from fast solar winds collide with Earth’s atmosphere, illuminating the polar regions of the planet with aurora lights. But geoeffective solar storms are also well known for disrupting spacecraft operations, causing power grid voltage control issues, and resulting in radio blackouts.
The Sun’s temper tantrums are anticipated to get worse in the near future as it approaches its solar maxima (season of greatest activity in its 11-year solar cycle) in July 2025.
