The Sun is approaching its solar maximum, set to reach the apex of that 11-year cycle next summer. There’s just one issue, experts say it’s acting up way more than anyone expected, but what does that mean?
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00:00The Sun is approaching its solar maximum, set to reach the apex of that 11-year cycle
00:08next summer.
00:09There's just one issue, experts say it's acting up way more than anyone expected.
00:13So what does that mean?
00:14Well, the solar maximum occurs when the Sun's magnetism grows, ultimately culminating in
00:19a flipping of its magnetic poles.
00:21Throughout this process, that activity pulls energy from the Sun's interior, which causes
00:25cool areas to appear on its surface, in the form of sunspots.
00:28The more spots, the more activity in those areas, where the Sun's X-class flares derive,
00:33the strongest ones it can produce.
00:36And boy, has it been productive lately.
00:38An X-class flare can cause beautiful auroras on our planet, if Earth is in its way.
00:41But it can also cause radio disruptions, blackouts, even energy grid damage as well.
00:46And since January of this year alone, these geomagnetic storms have resulted in radio
00:51blackouts in four continents.
00:53Experts are also concerned about the astronauts in space.
00:56This is Andrew Girard of the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research telling Business Insider, if there's
01:00a coronal mass ejection, and if that material gets to the Earth, it's going to make the
01:04densities of Earth's upper atmosphere higher.
01:07And that's going to create more drag.
01:08And more drag is going to bring down spacecraft.