Photo: Illustration from NASA showing the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. (Steve Gribben/Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Maximum sun or solar maximum the next will occur in 2025. Is Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading who researches space science and weather related to solar activity.
Sun maximum marks the peak of solar activity when its magnetic field reaches its strongest and most irregular, aka dynamic.
This increased solar activity can cause extreme space weather events, including solar flares and eruptions. It can also disrupt radio communications and power grids, and have serious health consequences for astronauts.
The danger is especially in large-scale infrastructure. On an individual level, it is impossible for people on Earth to see directly the maximum solar effect.
Scientists predict, this phenomenon is likely to be stronger than the last. A typical solar cycle lasts 11 years, and solar maximum occurs approximately in the middle of each cycle.
The last solar maximum occurred between 2012-2014 and was very weak, one of the smallest in the last 100 years. As a result, space weather is generally weaker than normal.
The phenomenon that is predicted to occur next year is predicted to return to the average. That means more space weather impacts and associated potential consequences.
The impact on the citizens of the earth
Solar activity occurs first due to the movement of ‘stirring’ plasma inside the Sun, thereby creating and changing the Sun’s magnetic field.
The Sun’s magnetic field reaches peak strength during periods solar maximumresulting in an increase in events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
Solar flares are composed of high-energy photons, such as X-rays, that can increase ionization in Earth’s upper atmosphere and would disrupt radio communications.
On the other hand, the eruption of the sun’s magnetic field and material triggers geomagnetic storms. Disturbances in the earth’s magnetic field can damage the electricity distribution network.
Quoted from Science Alert, Tuesday (2/5/2023), this phenomenon will also show more bursts of very high-energy particles moving towards Earth. These bursts will be about 4 times bigger and more numerous.
And, because the particles in these bursts are radiation, they pose a major health risk to astronauts, passengers, and crew on high-altitude and high-altitude aircraft. They can also damage space hardware and cause the loss of satellites.
Many maximum sun effects are temporary. For example, it’s often difficult to conclusively link problems in the power grid to space weather – even if solar activity does cause those problems.
One concrete, predictable effect is that you’ll likely see auroras, aka the Northern and Southern Lights, more frequently at different latitudes.
During solar maximummore solar particles interact with molecules in Earth’s atmosphere causing a brighter appearance of the aurora that can stretch farther north or south than normal.
(fab/fab)
2023-05-02 12:20:02
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