Evidence for In Situ particle energization during the 2024 May event based on the ASPEX instrument on board Aditya-L1

The interaction between interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) structures can alter the geoeffectiveness of the ICME events in myriad ways. Many aspects of these interaction processes are not well understood. Using the energy spectra measured in two mutually orthogonal top-hat analyzers (THA-1 and 2), which are part of the Solar Wind Ion Spectrometer subsystem of the Aditya Solar Wind Particle EXperiment (ASPEX) on board India’s Aditya-L1 mission, we gain insights into intricate features of ICME–ICME interactions during the 2024 May solar event. We report here an unprecedented two-orthogonal-plane perspective of ICME–ICME interactions for the first time from the L1 point. The investigation reveals a special interaction region formed by the propagation of the forward shock driven by complex ejecta in the preceding ICME. The interaction causes the formation of a downstream region spanning over 13 hr, which propagates in the interplanetary medium. The observations reveal that this region serves as a site for proton and alpha particle energization, and the particles within this region get distributed from one plane to the other. The presence of forward shock and particle energization is confirmed by the energetic particle flux measurements by the SupraThermal and Energetic Particle Spectrometer of ASPEX. These observations provide an unprecedented perspective on how solar wind ions become energized and distributed in an ICME–ICME interaction region.