The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently shared images capturing the dynamic activities of the Sun over the last month. These stunning visuals were captured by the Solar UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) and the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) aboard the Aditya-L1 spacecraft.
During the week of May 8-15, the Sun’s Active region AR13664, known as one of the largest sunspots in history, erupted multiple X-class and M-class flares along with Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), causing a major geomagnetic storm on May 11. ISRO’s remote sensing payloads SoLEXS and HEL1OS captured these events from May 8-9, while the in-situ payloads ASPEX and MAG recorded the activities from May 10-11 as the spacecraft passed through L1.
ISRO took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the images, stating, “UIT and VELC instruments have captured the dynamic activities of the Sun during May 2024, including X-class and M-class flares and significant geomagnetic storms.”
The observations by SUIT revealed bright, active regions on the Solar disk, signifying magnetically active regions with the potential for large solar flares due to magnetic field changes as the Sun approaches solar maximum. VELC observations focused on the emission line 5303 Angstrom, capturing coronal activities through raster scans.
These incredible images offer insights into the complex and dynamic nature of the Sun, highlighting the ongoing research and discoveries by ISRO in understanding our closest star.
