Sun went nova meaning11/18/2023 ![]() To their surprise, the researchers found the most intense gamma rays appear strangely synced with the quietest part of the solar cycle. In their upcoming study, so far published on the preprint server arXiv and submitted to Physical Review Letters, Linden and his colleagues examined a decade’s worth of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to better analyze the sun’s emission of gamma rays-the universe’s most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation. This, many experts argue, could open a new window into the inner workings of our nearest, most familiar star. They found a potential link between these high-energy emissions, the sun’s fluctuating magnetic field and the timing of the solar cycle. Tim Linden, an astronomer at The Ohio State University, and his colleagues recently mapped how the sun’s high-energy glow dances across its face over time. One obstacle to figuring it out, he says, is that crucial details of the apparent mechanisms behind the cycle-such as the sun’s magnetic field-are largely hidden from our view. “I think the solar cycle is so stable and clear that there is something fundamental that we are missing,” says Ofer Cohen, a solar physicist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Yet scientists still lack a model that perfectly predicts the cycle’s key details, such as the exact duration and strength of each phase. Thus, a better understanding of the cycle’s physical drivers is important for sustainable living on Earth. The solar cycle also plays a minor role in climate, as variations in irradiance can cause slight changes in average sea-surface temperatures and precipitation patterns. ![]() Now it is clear that around solar maximum the sun is more likely to bombard Earth with charged particles that damage satellites and power grids. Scientists have studied this ebb and flow for centuries, but only began understanding its effects on our planet at the dawn of the space age in the mid-20th century. The so-called solar maximum fades toward solar minimum, and the sun’s surface grows eerily quiet. Every 11 years or so its activity crescendos, creating flares and coronal mass ejections-the plasma-spewing eruptions that shower Earth with charged particles and beautiful auroral displays-but then it decrescendos.
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