Mid-latitude stargazers had a delightful weekend. The recent period of heightened solar activity reached its peak with an extraordinary auroral phenomenon, visible even at latitudes where such a spectacle is typically not observed. Social media was abundantly filled with pictures, likely due to the weekend. Many individuals expressed curiosity about the occurrence and its frequency.

According to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, the Earth recently encountered a severe geomagnetic storm in the G5 category, which was the most intense event since Halloween 2003. Previously, the event was sufficiently intense to result in generator malfunctions in both Sweden and South Africa. Typically, there are four occurrences of these events during each solar cycle.

🌌 What a show! Over the weekend, many people in Europe enjoyed the spectacular display of the aurora borealis dancing above their heads.

👨‍🚀 This is how @esa astronauts have seen the Earth's sky lighting up from space – a magical thread from the International @Space_Station. 🧵… pic.twitter.com/u3lbPqlFyn

— Human Spaceflight (@esaspaceflight) May 13, 2024

There are 11 years in a solar cycle. The Sun’s activity has a high point called the maximum and a low point called the minimum. We are getting close to Cycle 25’s peak (or we are already there). In every case, the peak is seen after the event. If you’re good at math, you might have noticed that 2003 was more than 11 years ago. But Solar Cycle 24 was very different and not very strong, so it didn’t cause any G5 or G4 storms, even though each cycle usually brings 100 G4 storms.

As the Sun’s activity rises, sunspot regions appear that are a little cooler than the rest of the surface. They have very strong magnetic fields, and how these magnetic fields behave is what causes the major space weather events. A sunspot called AR3664, which is 16 times as wide as Earth, is what caused the aurora this weekend.

“One of the most basic things about magnetic field lines is that they usually can’t cross each other.” Thus, as they twist and knot, they store energy like a spring that is wound up. “Magnetic reconnection” means that these fields loosen up quickly, which can send explosive energy into space.” In a statement, the scientist in charge of space weather, Dr. John Morgan,.

Sunspots can be the cause of solar flares, which are powerful light flashes. They reach Earth eight minutes later and ionize atoms in the upper atmosphere, making it puff up. They block radio signals, mess up GPS, and put stress on satellites. AR3664 sent out an X5.8 flare, which was the second strongest of this cycle so far.

But it’s not just flares from the sun. Space weather also includes coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These are bursts of plasma moving very quickly from the Sun. At the moment, charged particles are hitting Earth, but CMEs have a lot more power. It takes a very long time for these particles to move at this speed. When they get to Earth, they follow the lines of the magnetic field and crash into the atmosphere near the poles.

Most of the time,. Northern Lights were seen in mainland Australia, Tuscany, Italy, and Southern California, which are all very far from the poles. They could be seen even in places with a lot of light pollution. That’s because a lot of plasma came in. Earth was in the right spot at the right time for several CMEs to happen at the same time. Three of them came together to form a “cannibal CME” because the last one the Sun sent out was faster than the other two and ate them up.

Some of that plasma made it to Earth and hit the atmosphere at lower latitudes more often. This meant that aurorae could be seen from many places that don’t normally see them. A lot of people also want to know if it will happen again.

“No one knows for sure.” He said, “The last few days seem to have been some of the most important events of the smartphone era.” “It’s possible that we’ve just seen the most active aurora for this solar cycle.” But history shows that big events can happen even many years after the solar cycle’s peak. For those who missed it, there’s a good chance that something similar will happen in the next few years.

Soon, Europe will be able to go into space on its own again, as Ariane 6 is set to launch for the first time this summer. We’ll let you know soon, but it’s likely to be between the middle of June and the end of July. A lot of people in Europe and beyond are scared because a lot is riding on this.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is getting a new rocket called Ariane 6. It will replace Ariane 5, which was very useful. From 1996 to 2023, Ariane 5 made 117 launches, and 112 of them were successful. Ariane 5 launched JWST into orbit. Since Arianespace produced Ariane 6, it has a lot of history to live up to and overcome. It will be taller than Ariane 5, but it will be lighter, and it will cost less to launch each time.

“The Ariane 5 rocket was Europe’s main way to send heavy and medium-sized satellites into space.” The Ariane 6 will be more up-to-date, less expensive, and able to do more. “That gives it more freedom to leave satellites in different orbits,” said Dr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the ESA.

“Every day, satellites help us with navigation, communication, and watching the Earth. But we also use the satellites that we send into space on our Ariane rockets to learn more about the universe.”

Coming up are missions to find habitable worlds, build X-ray observatories, and chase comets
ESA will use Ariane 6 for a variety of upcoming exciting missions. It will look for habitable worlds around stars like the Sun when it launches in 2026. It is called PLATO, which stands for planetary transits and oscillations of stars. The Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large- Survey (ARIEL) mission is smaller but related. It will take its time to study the atmospheres of about 1,000 known worlds, building on the ground-breaking work that JWST is already doing.

ARIEL and its companion mission, Comet Interceptor, are set to take off in 2029. At first, the spacecraft won’t do much. It will just stay in space, far from Earth. But if a comet from the edge of the solar system or even one from between the stars gets close, it will be sent out to study the object that hasn’t been found yet. It was definitely a one-of-a-kind mission.

LISA and ATHENA live further in the future, but they have a lot of hopes for the future. LISA will be the first space observatory for gravitational waves. It will measure the vibrations in space-time in a way that we can’t do on Earth or even the Moon. The Advanced Telescope for High-Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA) will replace the following generation of X-ray observatories. It is expected to be 10 times better than the current ones. NASA is slowly cutting back on funding for its Chandra X-ray observatory, so 2035 can’t come fast enough.

“These missions will be sent off by Ariane 6,” said Dr. Aschbacher. “We are now getting ready for the next one, which is PLATO.” The big ones are definitely LISA and ATHENA, which are coming out in ten years. That’s what ESA is doing to help us understand the universe and figure out its mysteries. The Ariane 6 rocket will be needed to put those telescopes into orbit.

A future vehicle with a crew?
The Ariane 6 will launch more times than the Ariane 5. It will make sure that people can go to space on a regular basis, Dr. Aschbacher said, but his hope for this rocket is in the recently agreed-upon cargo transport vehicle. At the Space Summit between the European Union and ESA last November, a plan was made to have a reusable cargo vehicle carrying goods to and from the International Space Station by 2028. This vehicle could be converted into a crewed one after showing that it is safe and reliable.

“Right now, we don’t have this ability to re-enter Europe.” Without a doubt, this vehicle is important, and we’d like to improve this technology, which is a big step forward in exploration. This could become a crewed vehicle after it has flown a few times to make sure it is reliable and works well. “Of course that means for astronauts,” Dr. Aschbacher said with great excitement. But he was careful to say that the dream hasn’t thought through how projects are agreed upon and paid for in ESA yet.

“Just to be clear, this hasn’t been decided yet.” “I would need the member states to agree to this for it to happen,” he said. “This cargo or maybe crew vehicle would also be sent into space by Ariane 6 depending on how things go.” We’re not quite there yet, but this is how we think Ariane 6 could continue to grow.

Two types of the heavy-lift rocket Ariane 6 will be made: the 62, which has two boosters, and the 64, which has, you guessed it, four boosters. Both will be used to send things into geosynchronous transfer orbit, low-Earth orbit, and even further. The Ariane 6 upper stage will have a new Vinci engine that can be turned on and off. This will allow satellites or payloads to be put into any orbit that is needed.

An Ariane 6 and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have been compared a lot with the goal of letting businesses go into space. Ariane 6 can’t be used again, but compared to Ariane 5, it cuts costs by almost half. Launches on the Falcon fleet usually have a financial edge.

The edge of Ariane 6 might be in how much it can carry. Falcon Heavy’s expendable version, which costs more than the Ariane 64, can carry more cargo than the Ariane 64. For the version that can be used more than once, the fuel needed to safely bring back the rockets and booster cuts into the payload. A rocket must have enough thrust to carry its own weight, its fuel, and everything it needs to carry.

“Putting together a rocket is not simple; it takes a lot of teamwork.” “When I became Director-General of ESA three years ago, I looked at the progress of the [Ariane 6] project and saw that we had a lot of issues,” Dr. Aschbacher told. “Really, I spent 60% of my time with many team members getting the development of Ariane 6 back on track with the help of our industry partners.” We were able to solve all of the technical issues, which makes me very proud and happy.

Europe will soon have a whole new way to get to space after the launch in just a few weeks. But ESA isn’t just sitting back and waiting to see how Ariane 6 grows. The agency is already looking for the next launcher, which could be ready by the end of the 2030s.

“The next rocket after Ariane 6 will, of course, be reusable, which will cut costs even more and make it more useful for the European space industry and for everyone else.” A launcher may sound very complicated and technical, but it is useful for everyone. It sends solons into space. Not a launcher, not a space. There is no space, no way to connect to the Internet from space, no navigation systems, and no ways to watch Earth. This is really the most important thing that makes our standard of living possible. Dr. Aschbacher

It will take off from the European Space Port of Kourou in French Guiana, which is in South America and is part of France. On its first trip, it will carry many things, including a small satellite called “the witness” that will record the whole flight, from launch to deorbit and burn. The ESA’s newest space workers planned and constructed it.

Astronomers have successfully utilized the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe the presence of an atmosphere around a terrestrial exoplanet, marking the first such discovery beyond our solar system. Despite its inability to sustain life due to its likely magma ocean, this planet could provide valuable insights into the early geological development of Earth, as both planets share a rocky composition and a history of being molten.

Sara Seager, a planetary scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge who was not part of the study, states that the discovery of a gaseous envelope surrounding an Earth-like planet is a significant achievement in the field of exoplanet research. The Earth’s tenuous atmosphere plays a vital role in supporting life, and the ability to detect atmospheres on comparable rocky planets is a significant milestone in the quest for extraterrestrial life.

JWST is currently studying the planet 55 Cancri e, which orbits a star similar to the Sun at a distance of 12.6 parsecs. It is classified as a super-Earth, meaning it is a terrestrial planet slightly larger than Earth. Specifically, it has a radius approximately twice that of Earth and a mass more than eight times greater. The paper published in Nature1 suggests that the atmosphere of the planet is likely to contain significant amounts of carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide. Additionally, the thickness of the atmosphere is estimated to be “up to a few percent” of the planet’s radius.

A mysterious world
55 Cancri e is also not a good place to live because it is very close to its star—about 1.6 times as close as Earth is to the Sun. Still, Aaron Bello-Arufe, an astrophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and a co-author of the paper, says, “it’s perhaps the most studied rocky planet.” Its host star is bright at night, and the planet is big for a rocky one, so it’s easier to study than other places outside of the Solar System. “In astronomy, every telescope or other tool you can think of has pointed to this planet at some point,” says Bello-Arufe.

55 Cancribe was studied so much that when JWST was launched in December 2021, engineers pointed the infrared spectrometers of the spacecraft at it to test it. As these instruments soak up infrared wavelengths from starlight, they can find the chemical signatures of gases swirling around planets. Then Bello-Arufe and his coworkers chose to look into it more to find out for sure if the planet had an atmosphere.

Astronomers had changed their minds about 55 Cancri a huge number of times before the most recent observations. In 2004, the planet was found. Scientists first thought it might be the center of a gas giant like Jupiter. Researchers looked at 55 Cancri e as it passed in front of its star3 with the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2011. They found that it is a rocky super-Earth, much smaller and denser than a gas giant.

After some time, scientists found that 55 C was cooler than it should have been for a planet that was so close to its star. This suggests that it probably has an atmosphere. One hypothesis was that the planet is a “water world” with supercritical water molecules all around it. Another was that it has a large, primordial atmosphere mostly made up of hydrogen and helium. But in the end, these ideas were shown to be wrong.

According to Renyu Hu, a planetary scientist at JPL and co-author of the new study, stellar winds would make it difficult for a planet this close to its star to retain volatile molecules in its atmosphere. He says there are still two options. The first was that the planet is completely dry and has a very thin layer of rock vapor in the air. The second reason was that it has a thick atmosphere made up of heavier, less volatile molecules that don’t easily escape.

A better picture
The most recent information shows that 55 Cancrie’s atmosphere has gases made of carbon, which points to option two. Seager says that the team did indeed find evidence of an atmosphere but that more observations are needed to fully understand its make-up, the amounts of gases present, and its exact thickness.

Laura Schaefer is a planetary geologist at California’s Stanford University. She wants to know how the atmosphere of 55 Cancrie affects things below the surface of the planet. The authors of the study say it’s still possible that stellar winds are carrying away parts of the atmosphere. However, rocks melting and releasing gases into the magma ocean could replace the gases.