On May 10, 2024, a severe geomagnetic storm coinciding with Mother’s Day in Mexico lasted over 40 hours and produced polar auroras observable at low latitudes. This storm, the most intense since 2003, resulted from a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections from active region 3664. The event was significant for space weather studies in Mexico, marking a milestone by enabling comprehensive measurements of its effects. The Mexico Space Weather Service (SCIESMEX) and the National Space Weather Laboratory (LANCE) had prepared for such an event since their inception. LANCE’s instrument networks recorded solar chromospheric images, solar radio bursts, geomagnetic variations, Schumann resonances, ionospheric disturbances, and energetic particle flows. They also monitored Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs) in four strategic substations of the national electrical system. This provided unprecedented insights into the dynamics of severe space weather events at the North-American low-latitude environment. Citizen science efforts documented auroras and regional responses, capturing variations in geomagnetic indices, ionospheric disturbances, cosmic ray fluxes, GICs, and technological impacts. SCIESMEX worked with the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC) to issue warnings, ensuring public awareness and preparedness. This coordination underscores the importance of effective communication and collaboration in mitigating impacts. The May 2024 geomagnetic storm demonstrated the critical role of preparedness, research, and public education in reducing the effects of future space weather events in Mexico.

The Mexican Array Radio Telescope (MEXART) is a transit instrument mainly dedicated to performing Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) observations with a central operating frequency of 139.65 MHz. The main scientific objective is to perform studies of solar wind properties and space weather effects. MEXART initially operated with an analog beamformer (16x16 Butler matrix), which produced 16 fixed latitudinal beams. MEXART began operations and reported the first measurements of IPS sources. MEXART’s beamforming system had several problems, however. The North-South beams had poor directivity, with large side lobes, and the instrument did not achieve the expected performance. Therefore, we commissioned the design and construction of a digital back-end. The digital system solved the problems with the beamforming, increased the bandwidth, and improved significantly the instrument’s sensitivity. In this paper, we present the first light of MEXART’s digital system. We describe the new technical capabilities of the instrument, and we show some preliminary results: an estimation of the radio telescope’s sensitivity ($\Delta S_{min} = 2.28 \pm 0.23$ Jy), the transit of the Galaxy at 140 MHz with the simultaneous tracking of 62 latitudinal beams, and an example of an IPS observation and the single-station methodology to calculate the solar wind speed. The new technical capabilities of the radio telescope will provide the potential to participate in several scientific studies. These include solar wind properties, space weather forecasting, ionospheric perturbations, and astrophysical aims such as monitoring of repeating Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), and pulsars’ observations.

On 1 September 1859, occurred one of the most intense geomagnetic storm that has been documented in recent history. This storm is known as the Carrington Event. On the morning September 1st at around 11:15 UT, Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson observed in England, independently and for the first time, an intense white light solar flare. About 17 hours after this solar event, occurred the strongest geomagnetic perturbation ever recorded as well as a greatly extended red aurora, which covered unusually low latitudes. The red auroral display on September 2nd was reported in regions where this kind of phenomena are very rare, like in Cuba and Hawaii. Until now however, it was not known to scientists that the low latitude red aurora also registered in Mexico. At that time, Mexico was in a civil war, and there were very difficult conditions in which to establish astronomical and magnetic observatories. Nevertheless, the geomagnetic storm was observed with a maximum of intensity between 7:00-8:00 UTC and re- ported to a Mexican newspaper from five different locations (Mexico City, Queretaro, Guadalajara, Hidalgo, and Guanajuato) and registered also from at least in two additional sites (Michoacan and San Luis Potosı) in other historical documents. These records confirm that the Carrington geomagnetic storm was a global event with planetary repercussions, and that the Mexican low latitude region is susceptible to significant effects associated with intense space weather events.