Webinar with Hisashi Hayakawa (Nagoya University, Japan)
Thursday, 29th October 2026 (17h CET | 11h EDT)
Please click on this Link for the Zoom Session
Meeting ID: 852 6990 9362
Password: 459004
Analyses of extreme solar storms are of particular importance for solar physics and the mitigation of space-weather hazards. In the observational history, the Carrington event of 1859 is regarded as a benchmark, not only in terms of its magnitude but also in terms of its significance within their history. Despite the qualitative significance, it has been proven challenging to quantify this extreme solar storm, as it occurred almost a century before the onset of the space age and thus has challenged quantitative magnitude assessments for a long time. However, recent archival (and proxy) investigations have allowed us to access contemporary analogue measurements thereby enabling a reassessment and revision of the magnitudes of the solar flare, transit time of the perturbations in the solar wind, solar particle storm, geomagnetic storm, and equatorward extension of the auroral oval. This presentation will provide a comprehensive review of their recent magnitude reassessments and contextualise the Carrington storm within the broader framework of extreme solar-terrestrial storms throughout history.
Webinar with Marco Velli (Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, UCLA, USA)
The launch of Parker Solar Probe (Parker) in 2018, accompanied shortly after by the launch of Solar Orbiter (Orbiter), has opened a new frontier in the exploration of the Heliosphere. One of the first observations by Parker Solar Probe was that much of the solar wind, independently of speed, is dominated by Alfvénic fluctuations, suggesting that these fluctuations play a vital role in Heliospheric dynamics. Parker also observed that the Heliospheric current sheet is extremely dynamic in its formation region, with reconnection being a persistently observed process.
When the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) hosted its very first workshop in 1995, cross-disciplinary international collaboration was far less commonplace. Yet, heliospheric science was already thriving, and among the participants was a young scientist named Eberhard Möbius. Nearly three decades later, as ISSI hosts the workshop “Multi-Spacecraft Observations and their Importance for Understanding Particle Dynamics in the Inner Heliosphere”, Möbius is back — this time alongside Dr Emma Davies, a first-time ISSI participant representing the next generation of space scientists.
Their shared presence offers a natural bridge between the past and the future of space science. It is a living example of how careers, ideas, and collaborations evolve shaped by the ISSI ecosystem.
The solar wind is a remarkable stream of charged particles flowing outward from the Sun, extending beyond the planets into a vast region called the heliosphere. This flow of plasma holds the key to understanding the origin, evolution, and potential habitability of stellar systems. While spacecraft like NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter have given us a front-row seat to observe the Sun’s activity, the puzzle of how the solar wind evolves as it expands into space remains a challenging and fascinating area of study.
