The sun enters an unexpected active step

When solar activity reached a hollow of all time in 2008, astronomers reasonably thought that the sun entered a period of historically low activity. They were wrong.

New research published on September 8 in the magazine Astrophysics suggest that 2008 marked the start of a regular increase in solar activity. To be clear, this “reversal” extends beyond the well known 11-year cycles that the sun generally follows. More specifically, the researchers have found a slow increase in many “vital” keys to the sun, such as the frequency of the solar wind and the force of the magnetic field, since 2008.

“All signs were pointing to the sun in an extended phase of low activity,” said Jamie Jasinski, principal of the study and NASA researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a press release. “It was therefore a surprise to see that the trend was reversed. The sun wakes up slowly.”

Read solar signs

The solar cycle – an interval of about 11 years marked by the rise and the decrease in the numbers of solar spots – is a well documented phenomenon. The magnetic field of the sun returns the polarity every 11 years, returning to its original state after finishing two complete solar cycles. This 22 -year -old magnetic phase is known as the Hale cycle.

Of course, like many other astrophysical models, this rule has exceptions that scientists have not yet fully understood. Several historical files have clear evidence of long periods of unusually low solar activity that lasted 30 to 40 years, said Jasinski.

These trends are much more difficult to predict, added Jasinski. But the data since the 1980s seemed to really imply that the sun “was heading for a historic lull”, according to the researchers. However, a more in -depth examination of solar activity after 2008 – when solar activity reached an unprecedented weak – revealed a clear reversal of the weakening trend.

After 2008, the “tendency to lower solar wind ended,” said Jasinski. “Since then, plasma parameters and magnetic fields have regularly increased.”

The researchers’ analysis shows that the sun “recovers” a 20 -year drop in solar activity. Between 2008 and 2025, the main solar wind indicators – including speed (~ 6%), density (~ 26%), temperature (~ 29%) and thermal pressure (~ 45%), among other measures – increased regularly. This suggests that the recent unusually low solar activity period may have been “aberrant value” in the wider and long -term solar trend, depending on the document.

Solar activity and spatial time

The sun is located in the center of our solar system. Whenever the star spits radiation that bursts or plasma bubbles, the planets feel the heat – literally. Strong solar activity can compress the protective magnetic shield surrounding each planet, including earth.

This makes the earth much more vulnerable to brutal radiation and plasma jets from the sun. When this happens, solar time can destroy satellite networks and electrical networks on Earth. For space missions, the meeting directly from solar weather events could be harmful to the health of astronauts and the spaceship, giving NASA an imperative to better understand the nature of these events.

Technological advances allow scientists to capture solar activity in more detail than ever. However, the new document suggests that a second look is still worth trying when it comes to the unconscious and elusive behavior of our host star. In the article, the authors noted that “the continuous increase (16 years) of the dynamic pressure of the solar wind will have consequences” in the solar environment.

This upward trend has already crossed the 11 year old mark, suggesting that the sun is currently in one of these unusual prolonged cycles. When and how it ends is not clear, the researchers said.

“The longer term trends are much less predictable and are something that we do not yet understand completely,” added Jasinski.