IIA study of 29 years of solar storms finds thermal clues for space weather forecasting
Researchers of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru carried out the first long-term statistical study of the thermal behaviour of interplanetary coronal mass ejections near Earth using 29 years of data from 1995 to 2024, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on 30 June 2026.
Summary
A team from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, carried out the first long-term statistical study of the thermal behaviour of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs) at 1 astronomical unit, near Earth, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on 30 June 2026. Soumyaranjan Khuntia and Wageesh Mishra used 29 years of public observations from 1995 to 2024, covering Solar Cycles 23, 24 and the rising phase of 25, and found distinct thermodynamic states for ICMEs in different phases of the solar cycle. The release notes that the Sun's activity follows an 11-year cycle and that the peak of the current Cycle 25 was in 2025.
Key facts
- Institute
- Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru (DST)
- Researchers
- Soumyaranjan Khuntia, Wageesh Mishra
- Data span
- 29 years, 1995-2024; Solar Cycles 23, 24 and rising phase of 25
- Cycle 25 peak
- 2025
Practice MCQs 1 questions
According to the Ministry of Science and Technology release on the IIA study of solar storms (June 2026), the peak of which solar cycle occurred in 2025?
Show answer
Correct answer: B — Solar Cycle 25
The release states that the peak of the current cycle, no. 25, was in 2025; the study covered Cycles 23, 24 and the rising phase of 25.