The Sun's Poles Are Shifting: What Will Happen to Us?

Bright Side

Did you hear the news about the Sun's poles doing a little dance? Yeah, turns out they're shifting, which sounds pretty wild, right? So, what's the deal – are we in for some cosmic chaos? Well, scientists say it's totally normal, but it could mess with things like our satellites and navigation systems. Guess even the Sun likes to keep us on our toes!

Transcript

00:00The Sun is getting ready to flip as its magnetic poles are reversing.

00:04Similar to Earth, the Sun has a magnetic north and a magnetic south.

00:08But unlike Earth, the reversing process of the Sun's poles is more frequent and easier to predict.

00:15The next flipping is expected to take place this year, between April and August.

00:20As apocalyptic as it might sound, you don't have to worry.

00:23If you're around 30, you've already experienced this phenomenon more than once, as the Sun flips every 11 years.

00:30You probably didn't notice any changes back then, because this process doesn't impact Earth's life so much.

00:37But this time, things might be a little different.

00:42On Earth, ocean currents are movements that play a crucial role in influencing both climate and weather

00:48by distributing heat from the equator to the poles.

00:51On the Sun, these currents are more like an ocean of plasma.

00:55But they not only transport heat, but also carry electromagnetic energy.

01:00That happens because the Sun is a huge ball of hot and ionized gases that keep flowing inside its core.

01:09By fusing together hydrogen atoms and forming helium, our star releases a massive amount of energy,

01:15leading to these very heavy-flowing electric currents.

01:18And whenever you have currents, you have magnetic fields.

01:22It's easier to understand if you think of that classic experiment with a wire and a nail

01:27that you probably conducted in elementary school.

01:30When electricity flows through a wire, it creates a magnetic field around the wire.

01:35So when you connect a wire to a battery and wrap it around a nail, the nail becomes a magnet.

01:41This is similar to how electric currents create magnetic fields on the Sun.

01:45This whole process, with the help of which the Sun generates its magnetic field, is called a dynamo.

01:52We can't observe it directly, but we can see its effects on the Sun's surface.

01:57When plasma and magnetism flows become unstable and intense, they manifest as sunspots.

02:03You know, those dark areas on the Sun's surface?

02:06Much about how the dynamo works remains a mystery.

02:10But scientists have learned something important after observing these sunspots for centuries.

02:16The dynamo process follows a pattern.

02:19About every decade, it reorganizes itself.

02:22The Sun's polar magnetic fields get weakened, eventually reaching zero.

02:26And then they return, but with the opposite polarity.

02:29Back in the 50s, researchers figured out that when sunspots start to ramp up and become more intense,

02:37it means the poles are gearing up for a reversal.

02:40And over the past few years, solar activity has been off the charts.

02:44We're talking about more solar flares, more electromagnetic radiation bursts,

02:49and more plasma blobs being ejected into space.

02:52It's like we're sitting in the front row at the solar system's most epic fireworks display.

02:57In fact, the Sun hasn't been this lively in probably two decades.

03:03Right now, experts think the polar fields are almost in sync and steadily weakening,

03:08inching closer and closer to zero.

03:11But we haven't reached the point of reversal yet.

03:15Although it might sound like the Sun flips its magnetic poles like clockwork every 11 years,

03:21the truth is that it's not as neat as it seems.

03:23This path can be bumpy, and some aspects of the phenomenon are still very hard to predict.

03:30Take the last solar cycle, for example.

03:33The Northern Hemisphere started its magnetic flip back in early June 2012,

03:38but then it kind of hit a snag and lingered around the neutral point until late 2014.

03:43Meanwhile, in the Southern Hemisphere, things were smoother,

03:46with the polarity switching over in mid-2013.

03:49This time around, the Sun is actually playing nice.

03:54Things seem to be running way smoother this cycle, with the poles transitioning more evenly.

03:59But here's the thing.

04:00Reversal processes are never the same.

04:03That's what makes this phenomenon so interesting to observe.

04:06But at the same time, it's hard to predict how it'll affect us down here.

04:10Here on Earth, we don't have to worry too much about those intense Sun explosions happening 93 million miles away.

04:19But if, and I emphasize if, a solar storm were to reach our planet,

04:24the main threat it would bring would probably be the disruption of communication satellites in space.

04:30However, things might be different in this cycle reversal happening in 2024,

04:35because the number of satellites has skyrocketed in recent years.

04:40For example, Elon Musk's Starlink system alone involves more than 4,000 of them.

04:45All these satellites, along with communication and GPS satellites,

04:49could be impacted or even destroyed by a powerful solar storm.

04:54Although the chances of a powerful solar storm hitting Earth are low, it's not impossible.

05:00Back in 1859, during the Carrington event, a storm occurred near the peak of the solar cycle,

05:07causing currents to surge through telegraph lines, sparking fires and disrupting messages worldwide.

05:13Earth fell silent as telegraph communications failed.

05:16Just imagine what a solar storm could do to our vast number of satellites today.

05:21It could affect everything we rely on daily,

05:24from space-based communication and navigation to weather forecasting services.

05:28The ground-level power distribution could also be affected.

05:34You can forget about watching YouTube or Brightside,

05:37because if such an event occurred today, it would cause an internet apocalypse,

05:42sending countless people and businesses offline.

05:45There's a prediction that says that if a Carrington-class event happened today,

05:49it would result in damages ranging from $0.6 to $2.6 trillion.

05:54And I'm talking about the United States alone.

05:59Fortunately for us, solar storms as intense as the Carrington event happen only once every 500 years or so.

06:06Bad news for communications satellites, but great news for aurora watchers.

06:13During the Carrington event, dazzling auroras borealis lit up the sky as polar light shows stretched far beyond their usual ranges.

06:22The northern lights were spotted as far south as Cuba and Honolulu, Hawaii,

06:26while the southern lights were seen as far north as Santiago, Chile.

06:31For many people around the world, this was their first glimpse of the aurora,

06:35leaving them obsessed with the unusually bright skies.

06:39Some of them thought it was the end of the world,

06:41while others began their day early,

06:43thinking the sun had risen after hearing birds chirping and seeing the bright skies.

06:49Today, we know there's nothing strange about it,

06:52considering that the appearance of auroras at lower altitudes is one of the expected effects of the sun's magnetic pole reversal.

06:59Typically, these dazzling phenomena are found between 60 and 75 degrees latitude,

07:05but during the last magnetic pole reversal in 2013,

07:08intense auroras were observed below 50 degrees.

07:12Eyewitnesses describe these auroras as blood or deep crimson red,

07:17shining so brightly that you could read a newspaper in their light.

07:20It's important to study this phenomenon and not to fear it.

07:24The inversion of the magnetic poles on the sun is actually a great opportunity

07:28for scientists to better understand how our star works.

07:32Since many pieces are still missing in the whole dynamo situation,

07:36we're still not very good at predicting why some solar cycles are more intense than others,

07:41or when exactly a coronal mass ejection will erupt.

07:44But being able to predict that is becoming more and more necessary

07:48as we venture ourselves into space.

07:51The more people are out there beyond Earth,

07:53the more exposed they are to these strong solar storms.

07:57That's why the scientific community wants to know more precisely

07:59when a solar storm can cause damage to spacecraft and space stations.

08:04Plus, it would help meteorologists make progress in predicting weather,

08:08not only on Earth, but also in space.

08:10The whole point is to make space travel safer

08:13as the interest in crewed missions to the Moon and Mars grows every year.

08:18Another reason why it's important to learn more about the Sun's Poland version

08:21is to better understand how the mysterious interior of the Sun works.

08:26That could actually help us figure out the aspects of other stars in the Universe

08:30and maybe get closer to answering the ultimate question.

08:35Why are we here?

08:36Why are we here?

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