The study of space weather at the beginning of the 25th solar cycle

Abstract

The Sun is the primary driver of space weather, and on occasion, it can produce material eruptions accompanied by solar energetic particles and bursts of electromagnetic radiation (SEPs). This research studied the space weather at the beginning of the 25th solar cycle and its physical characteristics, including the eruptions on the Sun's surface, by analyzing the motion of high-energy particles from the Sun using the distribution data obtained from the Advanced Composition Explorer. The propagation of SEPs was studied using Ruffolo's transport equation, which was solved using the finite difference method. To locate the best solutions, we employed piecewise linear least-square fitting. Further, we examined the results in relation to the space environment by comparing the simulated solar flare injection time and the X-ray injection on the Sun. This study focuses on the two most potent solar events, M4.4 on 29 November 2020 and X1.59 on 3 July 2021. Higher X-ray intensity solar flares (X1.59) have a longer mean free path and arrive at Earth more quickly than solar flares with lower X-ray intensity (M4.4), which have a shorter mean free path and take longer to arrive at Earth. Because the simulation's injection time is far longer than the actual injection time on the Sun, the particles are weaker and have no impact on Earth. Although both events generated CMEs, there was no impact on Earth due to the eruption's location. The Kp-index for both events was no higher than two. Despite the fact that M-class and X-class solar flares erupted at the beginning of the 25th solar cycle, the eruption's location and timing resulted in modest space weather with little impact on Earth.

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