Solar Flares, Sunspot cycles, Space Weather and Earth
Sunspot cycles, Space Weather and Earth
[ A blog on the universe and the cosmos above and the nature of it determined by great scientists. ]
Sunspot cycles are periodic cycles of the occurrence of sunspots on the sun's surface. On the other hand, Solar flares are a short period of sudden brightness in sunspot rich areas and space weather is overall affected by these phenomenon which further affects Earth
Sunspots
Solar Flares
Space Weather
Magnetic reversals
Sunspots :
Sunspots are typical dark spots that occur on the sun's light radiating outer surface. These sunspots
often are observed to occur in pairs and define locations on the outer
surface of the sun with relatively lower temperatures as compared to the
surrounding areas. Though these areas define locations with lower
surface temperatures, these sunspots are not permanent. They occur and vanish in a fixed time period. This time period is called as Solar Cycle / Sunspot Cycle. These Sunspot cycles
can last for varying periods of time, from 8 years to even 16 years,
but on average these cycles last around for the time period of about 11
years.
How Sunspots occur and vanish :
Through intense study, it has been revealed that these sunspots occur
when the magnetic field of the sun becomes too strong in some areas and
inflates to result into a sudden strong flash of light in a small area on the uppermost surface of the sun
It has also been proved through recent studies, that these sunspots
occur in specific regions of the sun's surface. There is a fixed time
period during which they occur
[as mentioned below ] at places near to
the equator of the sun. After the sunspots are formed, they slowly
start getting concentrated at the equator, getting larger in size and
slowly follow the same process back wards and then vanish.
The time period in this cycle when the maximum number of sunspots is
observed is called Solar maximum. While on the other hand the point of
time when the sunspots are least in numbers or when they are not there
at all is called Solar Minimum. And this is the result of magnetic
reversals that take place with the sun. This part is covered at the end
of this blog so do read up to the end, or if getting bored then scroll
straight down.
So heading on to what Solar Cycles or Sunspot Cycles are. The Sunspot
Cycle is a cycle of 11 years which is followed by the sun. Solar
Maximums and Solar minimums occur at specific time intervals in this
solar cycle. This Sunspot cycle marks its end with the sun's poles being
exchanged in positions. Not only sunspots, satellites have provided us
enough data to conclude that the solar flares and other solar activities
related to the sun also tend to increase during specific periods of
this magnetic reversal.
Sun is now reported of entering Solar Minimum. So now the sunspots on
the surface of the sun will reduce significantly over a period of time.
This also means that solar activities like Solar Flares will drop by a
margin. Though you will not experience its effects directly because of
the earth's magnetic field and Geo - dynamo which prevents such solar
activities disturbing earth's natural process. I have written a separate
article on this invisible magnetic field. If interested then click here to read the complete article.
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| Data providing information about Sunspots Cycle and their pattern of occurrence Source : Wikipedia |
Solar Minimum Solar Maximum
Solar Flares :
Solar Flare to be defined simply are a sudden flash of brightness on
the sun's uppermost layer. Through some study, scientist have come to
the conclusion that these Solar Flares often occur at places where a
sunspot group is positioned and in rare occurrences, also accompanied by
a coronal Mass ejection.
These Solar Flares are not directly detectable. When the sun emits such
Solar Flares, they are also accompanied by plasma and other hot
particles which are then thrown into the space. If these particles come
into close proximity of the earth, then they are pulled into the
atmosphere by the planet's gravity, creating some beautiful auroras to
light up the night sky.
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| Solar Flare |
How Solar Flares are formed : Solar
Flares are formed because of electrons in the sun's active parts
collide with plasma. Scientists say that this could be a result of the
magnetic energy generated during such collisions being converted into
thermal and kinetic energy which explains the strange acceleration on
particles which are thrown out during Solar Flares. Although scientists
are not yet sure as to how this process occurs on the sun's hot surface.
Are Solar Flares a practical danger ? As
mentioned above, Solar Flares release some very highly energetic
particles with supreme speeds in the space. These particles can be a
potential danger to the magnetic field around the Earth, and if you'll
didn't knew about it then I have a separate article on it for you'll to
read. Just click here to read it.
Another potential hazard to celestial bodies is the radiation which is
given out during such Solar Flares. This radiation with the combination
of other solar activities sometimes may bring up huge Solar Storms which
create havoc in the Solar system.
Space Weather :
Space Weather is the weather up in the space. Though it does not affect
us down on earth but it is very important factor for space study. The
factor of space weather is also important and is taken into
consideration while launching space mission. The temperatures up above
in the space can vary from - 150 degrees cool to 100 degrees hot [
average ]
Space Weather is also affected by the sun's constant particle emissions
in the space through mediums of Solar Flares. The particles given out
radiate waves across their paths of travel and that is how we know that
they exist and affect the space weather. Phenomenons like solar winds
and Solar storms also affect space weather drastically. If you'll want
more information on this topic then do mention so in the comments
section below. I will then write a separate blog on this topic.
Magnetic Reversals :
Magnetic reversals means when the magnetic north and magnetic south
poles of a celestial body are switched. This is a naturally occurring
phenomena. Even Earth's magnetic north and magnetic south have exchanged
positions several times in the past decades and so does sun. Through
the data of the several past years, we have been known to the fact that
sun exchanges its poles once in every 11 years. At this time the Solar
activity on the sun, for eg - Sunspots, Solar Flares, Coronal Mass
Ejection are at its peak. This process of exchanging the positions of the
magnetic poles is called as Magnetic Reversals / Polar Reversals.
How magnetic reversals occur :
Taking into account the general phenomena, Magnetic reversals occur due
to rotation . When earth rotates, the fluid lava inside its core also
rotates. This lava plays an very important role in producing the Earth's
magnetic poles. Rotation causes vital change in the earth's core and
the direction of flow of magma and lava. This finally causes the Magnetic Reversals / polar Reversals.
How Magnetic Reversals affect us : Talking about earth, the reversals of its magnetic poles can seriously affect the magnetic field around earth and also indirectly affect our lives. If the sun flips up it magnetic poles, then there could be a few possible outcomes, which could include solar flares and solar storms. As mentioned above, if these particles released by sun enter our atmosphere, then it can cause auroras. But because we are more than 150 million kilometers away from the sun, we wouldn't be severely impacted by the reversing of the sun's magnetic poles. But even though, it can affect our satellites up in the upper atmosphere of our planet.
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| An Aurora caused by Solar Flare credit : pixbay.com |
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