On the night of 10-11 October, bright red light was seen in the sky.
Expansion
The recent occurrence of aurora (coloured aurora lights in the sky) observed in India proves that India's space weather monitoring efforts are in the right direction. In fact, a team of scientists had predicted this incident 48-72 hours in advance. On the night of 10-11 October, a bright red light was seen in the sky. Similar aurora incidents were seen in May this year and November 2023. Cameras at Hanle of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in Bangalore and Merak in Ladakh recorded the recording.
These auroras show that India is moving in the right direction in predicting space weather, said space scientist Dibyendu Nandi, chief of the country's Center of Excellence in Space Science (CESSI) at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata. He further said that this is important because solar storms coming from the Sun can cause major disturbances on the Earth, such as communication services can be disrupted and satellites can face problems.
Solar activities are increasing
Nandi said that although auroras are beautiful to see, their appearance in places like Ladakh indicates that the sun's activity is increasing. These solar storms occur when the Sun's magnetic field becomes active. This cycle usually lasts for about 11 years. Space agencies and organizations like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US, monitor space weather to provide timely information about interference from the Sun.
Now auroras are visible in Mexico and Germany also
The CESSI team predicted in 2018 that the current solar activity cycle would peak in 2024, findings published in the journal Nature Communications. Nandi was also a member of this team. Nandy said, however, that we will continue to monitor solar activity to find out if the current cycle has indeed reached its peak. He further said that aurora is visible when charged particles from the Sun collide with the Earth's magnetic field. They are commonly seen in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Alaska, Russia, Iceland, and Greenland, but have recently also been seen in lower latitude areas such as Mexico and Germany.
Scientists keep an eye on decreasing solar activities
India's Space Weather team observed signs of increasing solar activity on October 7. They used computer models to predict a large solar storm for October 9, which later produced auroras. When extremely large, these solar storms can damage satellites and even cause power cuts. The recent auroras seen in Ladakh indicate that the current solar activity cycle is at its peak. However, scientists are still watching to see when the Sun's activity will begin to decrease, leading to fewer occurrences of solar storms and auroras in the coming years.
