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.