Our sun has unexpectedly begun to ramp up its activity, which could lead to more severe solar storms that cause blackouts and disrupt global communications.
NASA revealed that our solar system‘s home star had been getting quieter and weaker for about 20 years, but that surprisingly changed in 2008 and scientists are still trying to figure out why.
Scientists found that since 2008, the sun’s solar wind, which are streams of charged particles, has grown stronger, with increases in speed, density, temperature, and magnetic field strength.
This increased solar activity could lead to more powerful solar storms, which regularly hit Earth and cause disruptions.
Geomagnetic storms have the potential to damage power grids, leading to blackouts, interfere with satellites, and disrupt communication systems like GPS.
Stronger storms could also make the Northern Lights visible in more places further south of the north pole, but the risk to technology and infrastructure will require careful monitoring.
The exact timing and strength of these storms are hard to predict, but they could become more frequent as the sun’s current 11-year cycle peaks between 2025 and 2026.
Lead study author Jamie Jasinski of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California said: ‘All signs were pointing to the sun going into a prolonged phase of low activity. So it was a surprise to see that trend reversed. The sun is slowly waking up.’
A new study has discovered a massive shift in solar activity which scientists weren’t expecting
More solar activity could cause intensified storms that disrupt power grids on Earth (Stock Image)
More activity means more sunspots, solar flares, and potentially hazardous ejections of material from the sun.
This could make the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the heliosphere, expand as the pressure from the solar wind increases.
On Earth, this could shrink our magnetosphere, the protective magnetic bubble around our planet, exposing us to more solar particles.
The increased solar particle exposure can pose a risk for astronauts, who could face higher radiation levels during space missions, potentially leading to health issues.
It could also damage satellites and spacecraft, disrupting communications and navigation systems critical for daily life.
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service suffered widespread issues during the peak of a strong geomagnetic storm late Sunday night.
The problems started just before midnight, with more than 50,000 reports from Starlink users as a fresh barrage of solar storms hit Earth.
Additionally, solar particles could interfere with Earth’s upper atmosphere, potentially affecting ozone levels and increasing ultraviolet radiation reaching people outdoors.
Solar storms striking Earth are often caused by coronal mass ejections sent out by the sun days before they affect our planet (Stock Image)
A severe solar storm could have the potential to cause power grid problems that lead to blackouts or satellite communication issues
The NASA team explained that the sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity, marked by changes in sunspots.
After a weak cycle (number 24) from 2008 to 2019, the current cycle (number 25) is showing noticeably more activity.
The study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggested this increase in solar activity might be part of a longer 22-year cycle, and the sun is now making up for its mysterious two-decade decline rather than entering an anticipated quiet period.
Since 2008, the solar wind’s speed has increased by six percent, its density rose by 26 percent, its temperature soared by 29 percent, and pressure skyrocketed by 45 percent.
This more dynamic solar environment results in increased solar storms and enhanced interactions with Earth’s magnetic field.
This isn’t the first time in history that the sun has seen a mysterious quiet period before ramping back up, but the cause of these declines have baffled scientists, who also don’t know when they’re coming.
Records show one of the quietest solar periods in recent history was a four-decade window from 1790 to 1830.
‘We don’t really know why the sun went through a 40-year minimum starting in 1790,’ Jasinski said in a NASA statement. ‘The longer-term trends are a lot less predictable and are something we don’t completely understand yet.’