NASA discovers new sunspots: that could mean them

Recently, NASA discovered new sunspots that could indicate that our sun is becoming more active again. That is behind it.

On May 29, 2020, the discovered NASA dark Sunspotswhich are the largest solar flares since October 2017. This is not uncommon or unusual, but could indicate the activity of the bright star.

NASA: That means sun spots

As a rule, our sun moves in cycles that last an average of about eleven years. If the star is very active during this time, this is called the solar maximum. Space researchers like NASA recognize this from the appearance of sunspots. In such a phase, there is a risk that the earth will be hit by a so-called coronal mass ejection. This is a solar flare in which the sun ejects charged particles into space at high speed.

According to a blog entry by NASA, the space agency is tracking the sunspots to determine and predict the progress of the solar cycle and thus also solar activity. Researchers assume that we are currently in a so-called sun minimum, so the bright star is accordingly less active. However, the fact that sunspots have now appeared shows that we are slowly leaving the minimum and the activity of the sun will increase.

That is why exact calculations take a long time

“This new sunspot activity could be a sign that the sun may be approaching the new cycle and going through the minimum,” NASA said in a blog post. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to calculate the maximum or minimum.

“However, it takes at least six months for sun observations and sunspots to be counted to know when they occurred. Because this minimum is defined by the lowest number of sunspots in a cycle, scientists need to see the numbers rise steadily before they can tell when exactly they were down, “NASA said. This means that we can only recognize the sun minimum afterwards. It could take between six and twelve months to confirm whether the minimum has actually been exceeded.

It was recently revealed what NASA has kept secret from us for 40 years. It’s about life on Mars. And with this discovery of Mars, even the space agency was surprised.

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