This video presents something big that’s happening on the sun. The sun’s global magnetic field is about to flip, a sign that Solar Max has arrived.
According to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the sun’s vast magnetic field is about to flip. And the complete field reversal is no more than 3 to 4 months away.
During field reversals:
- The current sheet becomes very wavy. The current sheet is a sprawling surface jutting outward from the sun’s equator where the sun’s slowly-rotating magnetic field induces an electrical current. Electrically speaking, the entire heliosphere is organized around this enormous sheet.
- Cosmic rays are also affected. These are high-energy particles accelerated to nearly light speed by supernova explosions and other violent events in the galaxy. A wavy, crinkly sheet acts as a better shield against these energetic particles from deep space.
- The sun’s two hemispheres are out of synch.
A reversal of the sun’s magnetic field is a big event since the “heliosphere” extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto on the doorstep of interstellar space. The sun’s magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years. It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun’s inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself. The coming reversal will mark the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24. Half of ‘Solar Max’ will be behind us, with half yet to come. (NASA)