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Wednesday, June 3, 2020

The sun is currently going through a less active phase, called a solar minimum

We're used to the sun 
rising and setting each day.

The sun itself 
is incredibly dynamic,
going through phases 
and changes. 

It's currently going through 
a less active phase, 
called a solar minimum.

The sun experiences 
regular 11-year intervals 
including energetic peaks 
of activity, followed by 
low points.

During the peak, the sun 
has more sunspots 
and solar flares.

In a solar minimum, 
the sun is much quieter, 
with fewer sunspots 
and energy.

Some solar scientists think 
the sun is heading for 
"Grand Solar Minimum." 

The last one was between 
1650 and 1715, during 
what's known as the 
Little Ice Age in Earth's 

And "when combination 
of cooling from volcanic 
aerosols and low solar activity 
produced lower surface 
temperatures," according to 
NASA's Global Climate 
Change blog

Sunspots were peaking in 2014, 
with low points beginning in 2019, 
according to NASA.

During the solar minimum,
the sun can  be active 
in other ways, like the
coronal holes that open 
in the sun's atmosphere 
and send out blazing streams 
of energized particles 
flying through 
the solar system 
on a rapid solar wind.

These streams of particles 
during a solar minimum 
can disrupt the communication 
and GPS we rely on from satellites.

More highly energetic particles 
called galactic cosmic rays 
can reach Earth, specifically 
its upper atmosphere, 
during a solar minimum. 

These are created 
by explosions across 
our Milky Way galaxy, 
like supernovae.



In August 2018, NASA
launched the 
Parker Solar Probe 
to draw closer to the sun 
than any satellite before. 

During its first encounter 
with the sun, the Parker 
Solar Probe kept itself 
suspended over a hole 
in the corona for a week, 
watching solar wind particles
streaming along the line 
of the sun's magnetic fi
eld and out into space.

"It's amazing 
— even at solar 
minimum conditions, 
the Sun produces 
many more tiny 
energetic particle 
events than 
we ever thought,"
said David McComas, 
at Princeton University
in New Jersey.

During the probe's 
seven-year mission, 
its orbit will shrink, 
bringing it closer and 
closer to the sun over 
the course of 21 approaches.

The probe will orbit 
within 3.9 million miles 
of the sun's surface in 2024, 
closer to the star than Mercury. 

Although that sounds far, 
researchers equate this to
the probe sitting on
the four-yard line 
of a football field 
and the sun being 
the end zone.