There's something wrong with the Sun! According to experts, the solar system's core star is behaving unanticipatedly. Official projections said the current solar cycle activity is expected to be modest.
It is because solar cycle 25 has already begun. It is projected to be more active than the previous solar cycle. Although this new cycle is more potent than Solar Cycle 24, it is weaker than the average solar cycle.
In a screen grab taken from a handout timelapse sequence provided by NASA / SDO, a solar spot in the center of the Sun is captured from which the first X-class flare was emitted in four years on February 14, 2011.
Solar Cycle Moving Too Fast
The current cycle, Space.com and other reports said, has been going on since September 2020 and is expected to climax around 2025. Experts have also pointed out that the current cycle's severity is higher than projected since it began six months earlier.
According to CNET, this increased intensity is manifested by an increase in sunspots and solar flares, including one that is thought to be the strongest in almost five years.
The solar flare was powerful enough to induce a radio blackout across Asia, affecting shortwave radio, aviation, and other communications. It's also the most recent sign that the Sun's current solar cycle is becoming more intense.
According to current trends, the Sun will have 125 sunspots when the current solar cycle finishes, more than the 115 sunspots recorded at the top of cycle 24.
However, it is still less than the 180 sunspots of solar cycle 23, which peaked in March 2000 and was determined by scientists to be average in recorded history.
Additionally, experts anticipate that the peak of Solar Cycle 25 will coincide with the complete solar eclipse of April 2024, which would be seen from an arc ranging from Sinaloa, Mexico, to Newfoundland, Canada.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon completely covers the Sun, giving the latter the appearance of a massive hole in its center.
More Solar Flares Expected
Science Alert said that the current solar activity cycle is expected to be tolerable. But there's a big difference between what the experts predicted and what's actually happening - and it's widening.
Sunspot counts, which are used as a metric of solar activity, are far greater than the NOAA, NASA, and the International Space Environmental Service anticipated values.
In contrast, the number of sunspots has continuously exceeded estimates over the previous 18 months. The Sun now contains 61 sunspots, and it's still three years away from solar maximum.
In 2020, Solar physicist Scott McIntosh of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research and his colleagues expected that Solar Cycle 25 will be stronger, maybe among the greatest on record. And the increasing number of sunspots suggests they are on to something.
"Scientists have struggled to predict both the length and the strength of sunspot cycles because we lack a fundamental understanding of the mechanism that drives the cycle," McIntosh said in a statement.
When solar particles released into interplanetary space clash with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, it causes communications outages, power grid disturbances, and stunning auroras. Aurora chasers are already having a fantastic time in the past months.
As a result of the Sun's outbursts of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, we may be in for some spectacular solar storms.
RELATED ARTICLE: Is Sun's Solar Flare Powerful Enough to Wipe Out All Life on Earth?
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