Despite the dense solar wind, solar wind ion contributions to the ring current during the May 2024 superstorm were minimal — the first simultaneous observation of ring current ions and solar wind during a storm this large.
Despite the dense solar wind, solar wind ion contributions to the ring current during the May 2024 superstorm were minimal — the first simultaneous observation of ring current ions and solar wind during a storm this large.
In May 2024, auroras were observed at unusually low latitudes across the globe, lighting up skies that rarely see such displays. Inside Earth’s magnetosphere, the region of space surrounding our planet and dominated by its intrinsic magnetic field, something significant was finally being observed.
It started with a large sunspot firing a rapid series of powerful solar eruptions. Clouds of magnetized plasma merged as they traveled through space and impacted Earth’s magnetosphere. No geomagnetic storm this powerful had ever been measured in the Earth’s ring current region, a belt of charged particles in space near our planet.
Read More: Nagoya University
Image: Schematic image of ring current ions on the dusk side during the peak of the May 2024 super geomagnetic storm, viewed from the Sun’s perspective. Credit: ERG Science Team
