Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

Coronal Mass Ejections Latest News

Astronomers have unveiled the intricate tale behind a series of powerful solar eruptions called Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), that resulted in rare northern lights dancing across Ladakh’s night skies in May 2024.

About Coronal Mass Ejections

• These are massive ejections of magnetized plasma from the Sun’s corona.

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How are Coronal Mass Ejections formed?

• They form similarly to solar flares—a result of the twisting and realignment of the sun’s magnetic field, known as magnetic reconnection.
• When magnetic field lines “tangle” they produce strong localized magnetic fields which can break through the surface of the sun at active regions, subsequently generating CMEs. 
• CMEs usually take place around sunspot groups and are often accompanied by a solar flare, though the two don’t always occur in tandem. 
• CMEs travel outward from the sun at speeds ranging from slower than 250 kilometers per second (km/s) to as fast as 3000 km/s. 
• The fastest Earth-directed CMEs can reach our planet in as little as 15-18 hours. 
• They expand in size as they propagate away from the Sun, and larger CMEs can reach a size comprising nearly a quarter of the space between Earth and the Sun by the time they reach our planet.
• CMEs, like solar flares, are most common during the solar maximum, a period in the sun’s 11-year cycle of activity when the star is at its most active.
• Impact on Earth: When such solar blasts are directed toward the Earth, they can cause geomagnetic storms capable of disrupting satellite operations, communication systems and power grids.

Source: PIB