Solar Storm That Lit Up Ladakh Skies Traced to Six Interacting Blasts from the Sun

Scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have decoded the mystery behind the rare auroras that dazzled Ladakh’s skies in May 2024, revealing that an extraordinary chain of six powerful solar eruptions — known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) — triggered the most intense geomagnetic storm in over two decades.

The storm, which erupted on May 10, 2024, stunned stargazers with a dazzling display of northern lights in India’s high-altitude Himalayan region. 

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But behind the spectacle was a complex cosmic chain reaction from the Sun, now detailed in a new study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal.

CMEs are vast clouds of charged solar particles ejected from the Sun’s atmosphere. When aimed at Earth, they can disrupt satellite operations, navigation systems, power grids, and even pose risks to astronauts. 

The May 2024 storm was triggered not by a single blast — but by six successive CMEs that collided, merged, and changed form as they raced toward Earth.

Led by Dr. Wageesh Mishra and doctoral scholar Soumyaranjan Khuntia, the IIA team used wide-field solar observations and a thermal model called the Flux Rope Internal State (FRIS) to track the chain of eruptions. 

Their analysis, backed by data from NASA and ESA space missions, captured the CMEs’ temperature and magnetic changes from their origin on the Sun to their arrival near Earth.

The researchers found that these solar “clouds” underwent an unusual thermal transformation: they initially released heat, but later absorbed and retained it—like a cosmic sponge. 

When the storm finally struck Earth’s magnetic field, satellite data from NASA’s Wind spacecraft showed a rare dual-magnetic structure called “double flux ropes,” which intensified the storm’s impact.

By tracing these thermal fingerprints, the IIA team believes scientists may soon be able to forecast severe space weather with greater precision—potentially predicting major geomagnetic disturbances before they happen.

This marks the first time globally that such detailed thermal mapping of multiple interacting CMEs has been conducted over the full Sun-to-Earth journey. 

The study also underscores the potential of India’s Aditya-L1 solar mission, which will add critical data from both near-Earth and near-Sun positions in future space weather research.

“These findings don’t just explain what happened in May,” said Dr. Mishra, “they push the frontier of our ability to predict solar storms and safeguard Earth’s technology infrastructure.”

The breakthrough is a major leap for India’s solar science efforts, positioning its scientists at the cutting edge of heliophysics—a field that directly affects everything from power grids to GPS signals to astronaut safety.