Solar Lockdown, Myth vs Reality.
written by Akash De
Still corona is stepping on all over the world. The normal activities are plodding along with time. In this situation a new question has arised. Is the sun going through “lock-down” phase along with his most favourite, beautiful planet in this situation? Will sun’s lockdown,literally,'Solar Minimum' mess up the Earth? Will volcano,earthquake really be reactivated? Will temperature go down and sequencialy will ice age knock our door?
Well, I tried to explain the truth behind these “words” ; if they are myths or not..
Before going to discuss that,we should be familiar with some terms thats are SolarSpot,SolarCycle, Solar Minimum.
Let’s go to the past when it was claimed that The earth was stationary and the sun moved around it.Then Copernicus came and he hypothesized through his mathematical formula(heliocentric system) that Earth is revolving whereas the sun is stationed.Later Galileo also proved it.
However,Science is developing. Knowledge is updating.After observing the sun in details through specially Filtered Telescope, today’s science concluded that the sun is also moving and solar surface is also changing by time.
l What is Solar Spot?
It’s an area of intense magnetic activity on the surface of the Sun—a storm—that appears as an area of darkness. Sunspots are indicative of solar activity, birthing solar flares and coronal mass
ejections (CMEs). Although sunspots seem like tiny specks, they can be colossal in size.
Sunspots were first systematically observed by Galileo Galilei, Christoph Scheiner and contemporaries from around 1609 and it has been continuously counted each day from 1838. Can you imagine? From this counting measurment of spots, Scientists can gauge our sun is now in what phase of Solar Cycle.
l What Is Solar Cycle?
Solar Cycle is the Sun’s magnetic activity cycle which is nearly periodic 11-year change in the Sun's activity measured in terms of variations in the number of observed sunspots on the solar surface.
When Sunspots are highest in number,solar magnetic activities is in peak, this phase is called Solar Maxima and when Sunspots are lowest in number or the all sun spots are faded out, solar magnetic activities are very poor, this phase is called Solar Minimum.
l What is Solar Minimum?
Solar Minimum is nothing but a natural phase of solar cycle when sunspots are in negligible quantity on solar surface.
l What are the effects on Earth?
Just as solar maximum sees many sunspots, the trough of solar minimum features zero sunspots and that’s what’s going on now. However, it’s been continuing rather longer than expected,
which means the Sun is in the midst of a particularly deep solar minimum. The most infamous happened between 1645 to 1715 when a “Maunder Minimum” saw a prolonged
sunspot minimum when sunspots were very rare for an extended period.
Will this record breaking movement of the sun really effect on the earth?
Well, according to NASA or other space scientists, this solar phenomena can effect on the earth in some factors.
i. On Communication and Navigation System
,According to Dean Pesnell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, Coronal holes, a patches like holes
which opens up solar magnetic field and allows streams of solar particles to escape the sun as the fast solar wind,can last for six months or more during solar minimum and so, the Streams of solar wind flowing from coronal holes can cause space weather effects near Earth when they hit Earth’s magnetic field. These effects can include temporary disturbances of the Earth’s magnetosphere, called geomagnetic storms, auroras, and disruptions to communications and navigation systems
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| Coronal Holes |
ii. On Galactic Cosmic Rays.
Through out this solar season, the sun remains in its lowest magnetic activity due to lack of sunspots, so the galactic cosmic rays illuminates the upper Earth’s surface more.
iii. On Space Junk
Normally,UV ray heats the upper atmosphere of the earth which cause friction to the sattelites in low Earth’s orbit,leading to drag. Drag is a good thing, for space junk; natural and man-made particles floating in orbit around Earth. Drag helps keep low Earth orbit clear of debris.
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| Space junk |
But during, solar minimum this heating mechanism of upper atmosphere is interfered and so without a normal amount of drag, space junk tends to hang around.
iv. On Aurora
This low magnetic effect of the sun also effect on aurora.
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| aurora |
🔍🔍l Myth vs Reality
v MYTH: Year without summer will again come like 1816
🔍REALITY: Early in 19th century Dalton Minimum occurred. This time,in 1816 temperatures markedly dropped, crops destroyed, and many people around the world starved to death, or died from the cold.That year was denoted as “The Year Without Summer”. But this condition is not linked with solar minimum at all.
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| Mount Thambora Location |
Due to tectonic movement Mount Thambora in Indonesia was erupted(1815 eruption of Mount Thambora) and the over heated ashes(erupted column) dispersed around the world which caused marked degradation of temperature.
v MYTH:The mini ice age will be seen
🔍REALITY: No such type of evidence was found.According to NASA global climate change team,even if a Grand Solar Minimum were to last a century, global temperatures would continue to warm. Because more factors than just variations in the Sun's output change global temperatures on Earth, the most dominant of those today being the warming coming from human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
v MYTH: The volcano will be reactivated
🔍REALITY: Some scientist claimed this event,but still the direct link between reactivation of volcano and solar minimum can not be established. Volcano mainly activated due to tectonic movement or over heated Earth’s inner surface.
v MYTH: The earthquakes will there in extend manner
🔍 REALITY: There is no link between earthquake and solar minimum. Earthquake caused due to unorganisation of several factors. The abnormal movement of tectonic plate or fault displacement of rocks or Human interference with nature (Anthropogenic factor) may cause seismic waves that cause ground shake. Solar minimum can not interfere these factors.
l Conclusion
This incident is also a very normal solar event. No such type of marked impacts will happen with the earth.Previously, we covered many solar minimum and like other solar events, we were not aware of them at all. So, like others this is one of the most natural phases of Sun’s 11-year cycle and a good thing is solar minimum can be predicted. NASA predicted today’s event in2017.Lastly, There is nothing to worry about Sun’s Lockdown. Our world will remain beautiful forever.
l Reference
1. "NOAA Space Weather Scales Page Has Changed" (http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales/). noaa.gov.
2. Petrovay, Kristof (2010). "Solar Cycle Prediction". Living Reviews in Solar Physics. 7: 6. arXiv:1012.5513 (https://arxiv.org/abs/1012.5513). doi:10.12942/lrsp-2010-6 (https://doi.org/10.12942%2Flrsp-2010-6).
3.’The Sun Is Asleep.Deep ‘Solar Minimum’ Feared As 2020 Sees Record-Setting 100-Day
Slum’ by Jamie Carter ,May 12, 2020
4. ’Yes, a Solar Minimum Is Coming.No, It's Not Going to Mess Up The World’ by MICHELLE STARR 19 MAY 2020
6. "Tambora Volcano, Indonesia". United States Geological Survey. 3 June 2002. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
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