Some satellites have been affected
The relationship between the sun and us is very important, and its every move affects us. Scientists from the European Space Agency said that since last autumn, the sun's activity has become extremely intense, and sunspots have continued to grow.
The European Space Agency is concerned because some of their satellites have been affected by increased solar activity.
There is no strict boundary between the atmosphere and space. Due to the weak resistance produced by the dissipated atmosphere on satellites, the orbits of artificial satellites in space will decrease every year, especially those in medium and low orbits. Take the International Space Station as an example. It is only more than 300 kilometers away from the ground, and power is used to lift the orbit every once in a while.
However, affected by abnormal solar activity, the orbits of some low-Earth orbit artificial satellites are accelerating their decline. Data shows that the low-Earth orbit altitude of the European Space Agency's Swarm constellation satellites is about 450 kilometers. In the past five years, the orbital altitudes of the Swarm constellation satellites have dropped by an average of about 2.5 kilometers per year. From December last year to May this year, the orbits of the Swarm constellation satellites dropped. The speed of descent has accelerated nearly 10 times compared to before, and the falling speed has reached more than 20 kilometers per year.
In fact, many near-Earth spacecraft, including the International Space Station, have discovered such situations. The orbit of the
satellite will decrease because the resistance it encounters increases. As for why the resistance increases? This is because the energy released by intensified solar activity causes an increase in the number of molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere to escape, increasing the density of atmospheric molecules near low-Earth orbit, which increases the resistance of satellites during operation.
In order to achieve specific tasks or functions, artificial satellites must operate stably on a predetermined orbit. At present, if the influence of the sun continues, according to experts from the European Space Agency, the life expectancy of the Swarm constellation satellites will be significantly reduced.
And not all spacecraft have the ability to raise their orbits like the International Space Station. For those satellites that do not have a propulsion system, this impact will reduce their lifespan and allow them to retire early.
Sunspots have increased in size.
The sun is a big fireball suspended in space that can spontaneously nuclear fusion . The sun is radiating electromagnetic waves and charged particle flows into the surrounding space all the time. This is called the solar wind. Under normal circumstances, there is no big impact, and some wonders can be formed. For example, the auroras formed at the earth's poles are formed when the stream of charged particles ejected by the sun is captured by the earth's magnetic field . But when solar activity intensifies, it will affect the earth's environment and humans.
When solar activity intensifies, the most obvious manifestation is that the number of sunspots on the sun's surface increases, and flares erupt.
Sunspots are the most violent active areas on the sun's surface. They occur in the photosphere layer of the sun and are the gathering points of strong magnetic fields. Accompanying sunspots are solar flares , which erupt in the chromosphere above the area where the sunspots are located. They appear as electromagnetic radiation and charged particle flows in the sun-terrestrial space that suddenly and greatly increase in a short period of time.
As for the coronal mass ejection, it is an enhanced version of the solar wind. It throws plasma clouds into space, which is different from solar flares.
In modern society, the most significant impact of abnormal solar activity on humans is that it interferes with radio communications, affects the normal operation of outer space satellites, and even causes partial power system shutdowns.
The famous " Carrington Incident " in history is a good example. This incident occurred on September 1, 1859, which caused the global telegraph system to shut down. In February this year, affected by geomagnetic storms caused by intensified solar activity, SpaceX's newly launched 40 Starlink satellites fell one after another.
In order to predict the possible impact of solar activity on humans in advance, scientists have been using satellites to monitor the sun 24 hours a day and provide space weather forecasts.
observation data shows that since 2022, solar activity has been increasing day by day. In June this year, a sunspot with a diameter almost equivalent to three Earths appeared on the surface of the sun, numbered AR3038. Solar flares can be divided into C, M and X according to their strength, with C being the weakest and X being the strongest. AR3038 sunspots can only generate M-level flares, which are not too harmful.
indicates a red flag? Does
signal a red flag? Will solar activity continue to increase in the future?
According to research by scientists, solar activity will continue to experience changes in strength and weakness, with a cycle of approximately 11 years. In the new round of solar activity cycle , it is expected that the intensity of solar activity will reach its peak by 2025. It's just that recent solar activity has been more intense than expected, and the number of sunspots on the sun's surface is now twice the theoretical prediction.
Since this year, many areas around the world have entered sauna mode. For example, the temperature in some cities in India once reached 40°C. So is this related to the abnormal solar activity this year?
Scientists say that solar activity can indeed have a certain impact on the earth's climate, but the impact of human activities on the earth's climate has gone far beyond supernatural factors. The reason why many parts of the world have turned on high temperature mode this summer is mainly due to the impact of global warming.
In short, the sun has now entered an active period, and the frequency and intensity of solar flares will increase, but this should not bring unexpected disasters to mankind.
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