Sunspots? Strange events are happening in the sun – what are we dealing with?
Something strange is happening in the sun. Since 2022, almost every day the strongest coronal eruptions on our star occur. Naturally, eruptions on a star are not at all strange. In the sun this happens regularly and it depends on an 11 year cycle. However, on the other hand, eruptions of such power are strange.
The current activity is significantly higher than the official forecasts of NASA and NOAA according to the current solar cycle. Solar activity from September 2020 has been steadily exceeding forecasts.
“We can not accurately predict the cycles of the sun. We do not fully understand what magnetic fields produce. They appear on the surface as sunspots, and produce light. This is one of the major problems in astrophysics,” said Michael U.A. .
11 to 22 years
Solar cycles naturally have a big impact on the solar system itself, but are relatively poorly understood. Scientists have found that they are inextricably linked to the sun’s magnetic field.
About every 11 years, the sun’s magnetic poles change, with the north becoming the south and vice versa, the south becoming the north. This process coincides with the “solar maximum”, which is characterized by the peak of sunspots, explosions, and coronal mass ejection (CME). After this reversal, activity is declining and here we are now.
Activity cycles are predicted based on a specific metric: the number of spots seen in the sun. These are temporary regions where the magnetic fields are particularly strong, which is associated with eruptions.
According to Scott McIntosh, a solar physicist, predicting solar cycles by spots is problematic.
“The cycle of sunspots is not the main thing, it is secondary. The problem is that it really is not the complete cycle of the sun. The main thing is the 22-year magnetic cycle and the cycle of sunspots is only a small part of this big picture,” he said.
The 22-year cycle is called the Hale Cycle, discovered in the early 20th century by the American astronomer George Eller Hale. It consists of two 11-year cycles of sunspots. It is about returning the poles to their original location.
Explanation of Sunspot
Sunspots unfortunately we do not have an accurate idea of what is going on inside the sun. It is believed that the sun’s magnetic field is generated by the “dynamo” inside the star. It is a rotating, convective and electrically conductive fluid that converts kinetic energy into magnetic energy.
If so, what causes sunspots? According to today’s models, they are related to solar rotation. It is known that the solar equator rotates faster than the poles. If along these rotations the straight lines of the longitudinal magnetic field are to be shifted, they become stretched and eventually tangled. This generates strong magnetic fields and temporarily localized areas of sunspots.
“There is a very complex system in the sun. We are trying to understand and simplify it,” said Scott McEntosh, a solar scientist.
There is also an alternative explanation: Sunspots are patterns that occur when the Hale cycles overlap, i.e. once every 22 years.
More data and innovative method
Based on his findings, Macintosh and his team got a better forecast for the current solar cycle. Regarding sunspots, their findings were more accurate than official observations. However, at this point it is all still a theory.
We still do not know what drives magnetic activity bands in the sun. Researchers think this may be due to gravitational waves. However, we can not be completely sure of this.
To understand more, you need more data, which will take time to obtain. We do not see the sun’s poles, and the earth’s position is to blame. The reason is that the planet revolves around the solar equator. However, the European Space Agency’s solar orbiter will be launched just when the new solar cycle begins.
“We need a special observation mission to understand how stars form their magnetic field. This should answer the question of what is happening on the sun now and why there are more eruptions than expected,” McEnto said.
A recent paper by Macento and his team on solar cycles was published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences.
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