00:00About a year back, something wild happened on Mars.
00:04Its magnetic shield and air around it expanded to about three times the usual size.
00:11Earth has experienced this ballooning before too.
00:14In 1999, it caused our magnetosphere to expand up to 100 times its usual size.
00:21And scientists are saying that Earth might experience it again soon,
00:25but on an even larger scale.
00:28The consequences of that could be catastrophic.
00:32Let's see why it happens and what might happen to us if that repeats.
00:37NASA's MAVEN orbiter has been orbiting Mars since 2014.
00:42It's the only spacecraft we have that keeps track of both the Sun and Mars.
00:48In 2022, on December 26th, it witnessed a fascinating show on the red planet.
00:54Mars' atmosphere and magnetic shield suddenly stretched out by thousands of miles.
01:00According to scientists, it's a unique, unbelievably dramatic event,
01:05and MAVEN was there to catch it all.
01:08Scientists tried to uncover this mystery.
01:10Digging into the event, they discovered something incredible.
01:14It turns out this air show was linked to the solar winds.
01:19Solar wind is the stream of particles coming from the Sun.
01:23It's a constant flow of protons and electrons from our star's outer atmosphere.
01:28Moving super fast, up to 500 miles per second,
01:32these charged particles travel through the solar system in a plasma state.
01:37Mars, like all other planets in our solar system, is always dealing with solar wind.
01:43Think of it like a breeze from the Sun.
01:45This wind pushes on Mars' magnetic shield, called magnetosphere,
01:50and is part of why Mars loses some of its atmosphere into space.
01:54Researchers found out that the weird expansion on Mars happened because there was a rare void in it.
02:01Faster solar wind caught up with slower solar wind, making them squeeze together.
02:06This created a gap in part of Mars' atmosphere because some solar wind was missing.
02:12This unusual situation caused Mars' magnetosphere to expand so rapidly.
02:18The Sun goes through a cycle about every 11 years.
02:22It jumps from low activity, or solar minimum, to high activity, or solar maximum.
02:27Then it jumps back.
02:29We noticed this way back in the 18th century, and we're currently on the 25th cycle.
02:35It's all because of the Sun's magnetic field.
02:38During solar minimum, the magnetic field is strong and organized.
02:42But over time, it weakens.
02:44Suddenly, solar activity jumps up.
02:47This creates solar winds, the Sun spewing jets of particles on the planets, including our Earth.
02:54In 1999, the solar wind nearly disappeared for three days.
02:59It will probably repeat again now.
03:01This time around, scientists believe it might hit us sooner and harder than expected.
03:07The Sun becomes quite lively, emitting fiery plasma, developing large dark spots and releasing powerful radiation.
03:15And, unfortunately, the upcoming solar maximum kind of caught us off guard.
03:21The storm was predicted for 2025, so scientists aren't very prepared.
03:27The number of sunspots observed has been way higher than anticipated.
03:31The Sun hit an 8-year sunspot peak in 2022, and then showed more than double the expected sunspots in 2023.
03:40It's not just them. Many solar flares have also been on the rise.
03:44In March, the geomagnetic storm lit up the skies with vibrant auroras across 30 U.S. states.
03:51It was the strongest storm in over six years.
03:55Many rare solar events have become more common recently.
03:59For example, a gigantic plasma waterfall, a polar vortex swirling around the Sun's north pole for hours,
04:07and a three-day solar tornado towering over 14 Earths.
04:12Because of all that, Earth faces some risks.
04:16Solar storms could hit our planet.
04:18It can mess with communications, damage power systems, and cause blackouts, and even pose threats to living beings.
04:25They can ionize Earth's atmosphere.
04:27This would mess with radio signals and GPS systems.
04:31Major disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis combined with such blackouts could lead to catastrophic outcomes.
04:38Additionally, strong solar storms may generate electrical currents that can damage infrastructure, including power grids and rail lines.
04:47Airplane passengers might experience higher radiation levels during solar storms.
04:51It's hard to tell what that would mean for their health.
04:54However, astronauts on spacecraft such as the International Space Station could face more significant risks.
05:02Future space missions will have to take solar cycles into account.
05:06We're not the only creatures in danger.
05:09These storms can disrupt the migration patterns of animals like gray whales, sea turtles, and birds.
05:15All these poor animals rely on Earth's magnetic field to understand what's going on.
05:21And as a cherry on top, there's a risk of satellite collisions.
05:26Commercial space companies are focused on launching satellites quickly rather than safely.
05:31Because of that, they often overlook the impact of space weather.
05:35During solar storms, the ionized upper atmosphere increases drag on Earth-orbiting satellites.
05:41If something goes wrong, satellites can be forced out of orbit and collide with us.
05:47The scariest solar storm that has ever happened to us was the Carrington event.
05:52In 1859, Earth experienced the most intense geomagnetic storm ever recorded.
05:58The sky lit up with vibrant auroras.
06:01They were visible from the North and South Poles to places like Cuba and Japan.
06:06The display was so bright in the United States that gold miners woke up thinking it was morning.
06:12It was caused by a massive solar flare.
06:15The auroras were breathtaking, but the impact was more than visual.
06:19It disrupted telegraph systems across Europe and North America.
06:23Telegraph pylons threw sparks, operators got electric shocks,
06:28and conversations were conducted using the auroral current instead of batteries.
06:33Similar storms occurred at least three times throughout history, with the same awful consequences.
06:40Scientists estimate the cost of such an event today could range from $600 billion to $2.6 trillion in the U.S. alone.
06:50Researchers continue to study historical events and ice core data to understand and prepare for the potential impacts of future solar storms.
07:00The Sun's behavior is very unpredictable, but this just shows that we need to study it in greater depth.
07:07The chance that this new coming storm will be the same as a superstorm like the Carrington event is low.
07:13Besides, if we spend this time preparing, it might go unnoticed.
07:18Preparation usually involves adjusting satellite trajectories, grounding planes, and identifying vulnerable infrastructure.
07:26Meanwhile, we keep exploring Mars. Its atmosphere is different from ours.
07:31Our atmosphere has breathable air, mostly consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, and a lot of other gases.
07:38Meanwhile, Mars has incredibly high CO2 levels.
07:42If on Earth, carbon dioxide doesn't even reach 1%, on Mars, it makes up about 90% of its atmosphere.
07:50Also, Earth's atmosphere is over 100 times denser than the one on Mars.
07:56Even though Mars is about half the size of Earth, its atmosphere is like a feather compared to our air.
08:02A long time ago, Mars could have been kind of Earth-like.
08:05We know that it definitely had water, and perhaps there were even some plants.
08:10If we added water on Mars now, plants could have grown up there.
08:14A long time ago, Mars was experiencing some serious volcanism, suggesting it had a thick atmosphere, and maybe even a giant ocean.
08:23We're not sure what happened to them, but there are some theories.
08:27For example, Mars has a magnetic field, but it's very weak, so solar winds could have stripped away its atmosphere.
08:34In the end, it became the chilly, dusty, red planet we know today.
08:39NASA's Perseverance rover celebrated its 1,000th day on the red planet with some amazing discoveries.
08:46The rover cruised through an ancient Martian river and lake system.
08:50It gathered 23 precious samples along the way.
08:53All of these samples will help us to unlock Mars' history and geological mysteries.
08:59Extreme events and conditions are horrifying, but great in a way that they help us to learn more about our solar system.
09:06Luckily, MAVEN was designed to be sturdy and prepared even for intense solar storms.
09:12So now we can find out more about Mars when it's stripped of its protectiveness.
09:22That's it for today.
09:23So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
09:28Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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