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The sun looks different right now because of the smoke from out west. But NASA scientists are looking at the sun from space because, much like a change in seasons, the sun is getting ready to go through a big change soon. It could have a big impact on some of the technology we use every day.“So, just like we have hurricane cycles that last roughly a year, the sun has a cycle that lasts about 11 years,” said Alex Young, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.The current cycle is getting ready to come to an end. Young said the sun has been in a low-activity cycle. Scientists are preparing for the next high-activity cycle, which is expected to hit roughly around 2024-25.Young said over the next few years, we’ll see more and more sunspots and huge magnetic fields that release energy like solar storms.“That stuff travels through the whole solar system, and sometimes the earth is in the way of all that stuff. And when it hits the earth, it creates electrical disturbances and that impacts our technology, our satellites, our ability to communicate — sometimes it can even impact power grids here on earth,” Young said.And that’s why predicting solar weather is so important. Technology issues could mean loss of internet or GPS. Severe storms could pose radiation dangers to astronauts on the International Space Station. That’s why NASA is working with scientists around the world and with researchers at NOAH, who also predict solar weather.“So that we can make sure we’re prepared for them and we can take the appropriate action,” Young said.Taking action such as making adjustments to power grids to avoid losing electricity, putting spacecraft in protective mode and alerting astronauts to take precautions. The forecast for this cycle is bigger than the last high-activity period, which was one of the smallest in the last 100 years.“Even when you have a smaller solar cycle, you can still have individual events which can be very big, just like we can have a mild hurricane season some times and you can still have an occasional large hurricane,” Young said.
The sun looks different right now because of the smoke from out west. But NASA scientists are looking at the sun from space because, much like a change in seasons, the sun is getting ready to go through a big change soon. It could have a big impact on some of the technology we use every day.
“So, just like we have hurricane cycles that last roughly a year, the sun has a cycle that lasts about 11 years,” said Alex Young, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The current cycle is getting ready to come to an end. Young said the sun has been in a low-activity cycle. Scientists are preparing for the next high-activity cycle, which is expected to hit roughly around 2024-25.
Young said over the next few years, we’ll see more and more sunspots and huge magnetic fields that release energy like solar storms.
“That stuff travels through the whole solar system, and sometimes the earth is in the way of all that stuff. And when it hits the earth, it creates electrical disturbances and that impacts our technology, our satellites, our ability to communicate — sometimes it can even impact power grids here on earth,” Young said.
And that’s why predicting solar weather is so important. Technology issues could mean loss of internet or GPS. Severe storms could pose radiation dangers to astronauts on the International Space Station. That’s why NASA is working with scientists around the world and with researchers at NOAH, who also predict solar weather.
“So that we can make sure we’re prepared for them and we can take the appropriate action,” Young said.
Taking action such as making adjustments to power grids to avoid losing electricity, putting spacecraft in protective mode and alerting astronauts to take precautions.
The forecast for this cycle is bigger than the last high-activity period, which was one of the smallest in the last 100 years.
“Even when you have a smaller solar cycle, you can still have individual events which can be very big, just like we can have a mild hurricane season some times and you can still have an occasional large hurricane,” Young said.
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