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Mysterious Shadows Revealed How Earth Is Connected to The Sun, Stuns Scientists

If the Sun's magnetic field does originate near its surface, scientists may have a better chance of predicting potentially dangerous solar events.
PUBLISHED JAN 13, 2025
Photo of an eclipse. (Representative Cover Image Source: Unsplash | Photo by Bryan Goff)
Photo of an eclipse. (Representative Cover Image Source: Unsplash | Photo by Bryan Goff)

A study of surprising findings into how the Earth is magnetically connected with the Sun, reported by MIT News, may prove to be more superficial than hitherto believed. Whereas the Sun's magnetic field—which dictates everything from sunspot formation to solar flares—was thought to be generated by the star's deep interior, new research indicates it might be created much closer to the Sun's surface.



 

In February 2013, astronomers witnessed the rare spectacle of a sunspot coming into view in less than 48 hours and growing to be larger than six Earth diameters across, according to Science Alert. This event, along with several other recent studies, is helping scientists toward a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between Earth and its life-giving host star. "The features we see when looking at the sun, like the corona that many people saw during the recent solar eclipse, sunspots, and solar flares, are all associated with the sun's magnetic field," said Keaton Burns, a research scientist in MIT's Department of Mathematics. The simulations revealed that the perturbations in just the top 5–10% of the Sun's surface layers could create magnetic structures similar to those observed on the Sun.



 

The story of this understanding of the solar-terrestrial relationship goes back centuries. In 1600, William Gilbert, physician to Queen Elizabeth I of England, first described Earth as a giant magnet. Later, American astrophysicist, George Ellery Hale, discovered with polarized light that portions of the Sun had magnetic fields running several thousand times stronger than Earth—especially in darker areas on the Sun known as sunspots.



 

One turning point came in 1859, when the wealthy brewery owner and amateur astronomer, Richard Carrington, witnessed something that would later be called the Carrington Event: while making sketches of sunspots, he watched in wonder as one suddenly turned from darkness into light—a rare solar flare that would send spectacular auroras dancing across the globe and blow fuses and even set fires in telegraph systems, according to The Conversation.



 

The current solar cycle, known as Cycle 25, is proving to be more intense than predicted. Scientists have observed that when the magnetism of active regions around sunspots creates gas clouds directed toward Earth, they can unleash powerful magnetic storms. These storms store energy on Earth's nightside, resulting in spectacular auroral displays. The research by the team at MIT has particularly significant implications for space weather prediction. The payoff to that work could be important, if the Sun's magnetic field does originate near its surface rather than deep inside, scientists may have a better chance of predicting potentially dangerous solar events that might affect satellites and telecommunications systems.

HDR photo of the burning Sun. (Image Source: Unsplash | Photo by Chandler Cruttenden)
Photo of the burning Sun. (Representative Image Source: Unsplash | Photo by Chandler Cruttenden)

This new understanding of magnetic processes at the Sun comes at an appropriate time now that people have been experiencing what was an unexpectedly very large peak for sunspot numbers over the last ten months. Moreover, experts anticipate that intense magnetic storms, like last May's attack in 2024, may now continue for almost two years at a time—events that somehow combine beauty with danger but enthrall even the scientists looking to unravel puzzles of the closest star.

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