In 2012, according to Mayans, it would be the year a grand apocalypse laid waste to humanity. Although the world didn't end that year, something astrophysical occurred that the Earth could barely avoid as a massive sun storm erupted.
2012: Mayans and Coronal Mass Ejections
During the Sun's 11-year active cycle, astronomers and people with telescopes can peer at the sun and see dark sunspots dotting the surface of the massive star. Observatories detect short-lived bursts of powerful solar flares lasting anywhere between a few minutes to hours on the surface of the Sun, explains EarthSky.
In 2012, it was the Sun's naturally active period. Every cycle, the Sun becomes significantly active and gets quieter again. However, in 2012 and 2013, the Sun's cycle peaked and what happened was a colossal coronal mass ejection, explains Michele Thaller, the Assistant Director of Science Communications at NASA.
The thing is, luckily, the CME went off on the other side of the Sun from us. Humans have placed satellites and the like in the direction of the burst and were knocked out. Thaller explains that they were knocked silly by bursts of charged particles originating from the Sun. Hence, scientists observed the phenomenon and were able to see what happened and track the cosmic commotion.
Are Solar Storms Dangerous to the Human Race?
The source of the high-energy particles and how they get accelerated from the Sun's surface is exactly what Thaller and many other scientists are studying today. High-energy particles pertain to Helium atom electrons and protons and even large nuclei that get blasted through the Solar System at millions of miles an hour in some cases, according to NASA. Hence, a blast of high-energy wing blasting through space when solar storms occur. It changes planets.
Thaller explains to BigThink that these occurrences are responsible for Mars losing the planet's atmosphere over time and becoming the Red, cold, and dead desert it is today. Likewise, it is also responsible for Venus becoming the hellish planet we know. It blasted away all the lighter molecules, such as water.
Our planet, Earth, isn't affected significantly by solar storms due to a very strong magnetic field safeguarding the planet and its inhabitants. Our motel metal core and all the metal moving around inside the planet generates a magnetic bottle around the planet that protects us from solar wind and the like. Solar wind normally doesn't place the Earth and humans in significant danger. However, just like any weather, space weather can become unpredictable. Hence, in the case of the Sun, it sometimes has extremely violent storms. These storms are caused by chaotic twisting magnetic fields on the star. Some of the hot gasses on its surface get accelerated so quickly by the magnetic fields that it breaks off and take off towards the vast emptiness of space.
Although it doesn't directly threaten biological creatures on Earth, these high-moving charged particles can dump electric current right into the planet's magnetic field. For satellites above the atmosphere, this isn't the most conducive phenomenon. The energy bursts will hit and damage them. However, since all of the electronics will be shut down at this point, it would be easier to retrieve them.
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