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Space Weather #space-weather · New Zealand February 22, 2026

New Zealand detects largest magnetic storm in 30 years

Published 6 days ago
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NASA Space Telescopes See Weather Patterns in Brown Dwarf
NASA / GSFC

New Zealand detects largest magnetic storm in 30 years

Aurora Alert: New Zealand's Magnetometer Network Catches Biggest Storm Since 1994

New Zealand has caught its most violent geomagnetic storm in three decades, thanks to a freshly completed network of magnetic field sensors that went live just in time to witness solar chaos.

The MANA (Magnetometer Array for New Zealand Aotearoa) network, which finished deployment in 2023, recorded a historic geomagnetic storm on May 10-12, 2024. Named the "Gannon" storm, it produced the fastest recorded change in Earth's magnetic field ever observed across New Zealand—a rate of 478 nanoTesla per minute at the Awarua station, shattering the previous record of 191 nanoTesla per minute set in November 2001. For context, Earth's magnetic field normally changes imperceptibly; this storm compressed dramatic shifts into single-minute intervals.

Why This Matters Now

Geomagnetic storms aren't just spectacles for aurora hunters. They degrade GPS accuracy, disrupt power grids, and threaten communications satellites—critical infrastructure that modern economies depend on. The May event hit harder than scientists anticipated, and the MANA network's real-time observations proved essential for understanding how these solar plasma waves interact with Earth's magnetic environment at regional scales.

The timing is significant. Space weather activity follows the Sun's roughly 11-year cycle, which is currently ramping up toward solar maximum (expected around 2025). That means more storms like this are likely coming. MANA's deployment in 2023 positioned New Zealand as a front-row observer for this intensifying period.

A Network Built for the Challenge

MANA consists of five new variometer stations strategically distributed across New Zealand, complementing the existing Eyrewell geomagnetic observatory. The network captures magnetic field data at a standard 1-second cadence, with the ability to stream high-resolution measurements at up to 130 hertz—roughly the same sampling rate as professional audio equipment—for detailed storm analysis.

The October 10-12 geomagnetic storm provided a revealing secondary data point. Though less intense (202 nanoTesla per minute at Awarua), it revealed something unexpected: magnetic responses varied dramatically across the country. While Awarua recorded a sharp spike, the Eyrewell station simultaneously logged only 40 nanoTesla per minute—a five-fold difference across a nation-sized footprint. This spatial variability suggests that local magnetospheric substorms, rather than global planetary effects alone, were driving the observed phenomena. The two storms' peak impacts also lagged the global magnetic maximum by roughly 10 hours, indicating regional atmospheric and plasma dynamics were at play.

Technical Arsenal

The network serves dual purposes: operational monitoring and scientific research. The MANA website (solartsunamis.otago.ac.nz/mana/data/) provides near-real-time storm alerts, enabling utilities and satellite operators to prepare for disruptions. Simultaneously, the raw high-frequency data—available upon request at up to 130 Hz—provides researchers with unprecedented temporal resolution for modeling how geomagnetic storms interact with New Zealand's unique position in the Southern Hemisphere.

What Comes Next

With solar maximum approaching and MANA now battle-tested by historic storms, the network's data will become increasingly valuable for space weather forecasting models. New Zealand's geographic position makes it an ideal observing point for understanding how geomagnetic disturbances propagate across different latitudes. Expect this data to feed into improved early-warning systems for grid operators and satellite operators globally—making this small island nation a critical node in humanity's space weather defense network.

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Think of it like...

The May 2024 geomagnetic storm's maximum rate of change (478 nanoTesla per minute at Awarua) was 2.5 times faster than the previous New Zealand record set in 2001—imagine the magnetic field shifting as violently as a category-5 hurricane's pressure drop, compressed into a single minute.

Related Entities

MANA (Magnetometer Array for New Zealand Aotearoa)·facility
Eyrewell·facility
University of Otago·agency
📍New Zealand

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Image for: NASA's Twin Spacecraft Will Map Mars' Atmospheric Death
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NASA's Twin Spacecraft Will Map Mars' Atmospheric Death

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Image for: NASA races to fix Moon rocket before April launch window
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Space Weather4 days ago

ESA captures 'ring of fire' eclipse from space in ultraviolet light

ESA's Proba-2 Captures Rare Annular Eclipse From Above Atmosphere On February 17, 2026, the European Space Agency's Proba-2 satellite achieved what ground-based observatories cannot: a crisp, unobstructed view of an annular solar eclipse from space. The spacecraft captured the event in extreme ultraviolet light, revealing the Sun's corona—its wispy, million-degree outer atmosphere—with unprecedented clarity. Unlike observers on Earth, who watched the Moon form a brilliant "ring of fire" across the Sun's disk, Proba-2 documented the eclipse free from atmospheric distortion, providing scientists with raw data on solar behavior that could reshape how we prepare for space weather threats to critical infrastructure. An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between Earth and Sun but appears too small to completely block our star. This happens because the Moon sits farther along its elliptical orbit, making it smaller in the sky than the Sun. The result is a glowing ring—the photosphere—visible around the Moon's silhouette. While dramatic from Earth, the real scientific payoff comes from space. Proba-2's SWAP (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System) imager operates at 17.4 nanometers, a wavelength that penetrates the Sun's corona to reveal solar flares and coronal mass ejections in detail. Ground-based telescopes cannot access this information because Earth's atmosphere absorbs ultraviolet light. Why This Matters Now The timing of Proba-2's observations arrives as space agencies worldwide confront an uncomfortable reality: we are ill-equipped for the next major solar storm. In May 2024, a geomagnetic storm rated G4 (severe) disrupted farming equipment GPS across North America and degraded power grid stability. Scientists warn that a Carrington Event-scale storm—possible within the next 12 years—could cause trillions in economic damage. By monitoring the Sun's corona during eclipses, researchers can refine models that predict when and where coronal mass ejections will hit Earth. Proba-2's 2026 data feeds directly into this effort. Proba-2, launched in 2009, represents a lean approach to solar science. The satellite is small—fitting inside a compact spacecraft architecture—yet bristles with sophisticated instrumentation. Its longevity (now in its 15th year of operation) reflects solid engineering and ESA's commitment to sustained solar monitoring. The SWAP imager has been the backbone of ultraviolet solar research for over a decade, making the February 2026 eclipse observations a natural extension of an already robust mission. The Broader Context Solar eclipse observations from space have accelerated scientific discovery since NASA's Skylab era in the 1970s. Modern satellites like Proba-2, SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory), and Japan's Hinode have transformed our understanding of solar dynamics. The February 2026 eclipse is part of a constellation of upcoming celestial events: a total solar eclipse crosses Greenland, Iceland, and Spain on August 12, 2026, followed by another total eclipse over North Africa and the Middle East on August 2, 2027. Each event offers opportunities for both space-based and terrestrial science campaigns. What's Next The data Proba-2 collected during the February 2026 annular eclipse will be processed and released to the broader scientific community, likely yielding dozens of peer-reviewed papers on solar corona dynamics and heating mechanisms. Meanwhile, space agencies are preparing deployment of next-generation solar observatories—including ESA's upcoming Solar Orbiter deep-dive missions and NASA's planned solar probe fleet—designed to get even closer to the Sun and capture phenomena invisible to current instruments. The 2026 eclipse serves as both a capstone to a generation of solar science and a proving ground for the observational strategies that will guide the next decade of heliophysics research.

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