Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – Study probes how ejections from Sun’s corona influence space weather predictions crucial for monitoring satellites

Concept –

• A recent study has shown how conditions and events in the solar atmosphere like coronal mass ejections influence the accuracy of space weather prediction, which is crucial for the health of our satellites.
• This understanding will aid the interpretation of data from the upcoming Aditya-L1, India’s first solar mission.
• Space weather refers to the conditions in the solar wind and near-Earth space, which can adversely affect the performance of space-borne and ground-based technological systems.
• The space weather near the Earth is mainly due to Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), which are frequent explosive expulsions of huge magnetized plasma from the Sun into its surroundings, which can blow past the Earth.
• Example of space weather events is the geomagnetic storm, a perturbation in the Earth’s magnetic field, which can last for few hours to few days.
• Plasma properties and Earth arrival times of CMEs from the Sun can vary substantially with longitudinal locations in the interplanetary space.
• Sun emits a continuous stream of charged particles called the Solar Wind.
• Plasma characteristics and arrival times of a CME-driven shock, propagating in a pre-conditioned inhomogeneous medium, may be different at different longitudinal locations in the heliosphere.
• The study highlights the difficulties in connecting the local observations of an ICME from a single in situ spacecraft to its global structures and explains that accurate prediction of large CME structures at any location in the heliosphere is challenging.

To know about solar storm, please click here.