The sun is experiencing a less active phase called 'solar minimum,' but it won't

cause an ice age

Ashley Strickland-Profile-Image
By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 0030 GMT (0830 HKT) May 20, 2020

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Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0)

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Here's how much NASA's trips to the moon will cost

The first mobile astronaut assistant in space, CIMON, has a sibling: CIMON 2. It is
shown here during tests in the Columbus mock-up at the European Astronaut Centre in
Cologne. CIMON 2 was launched to the International Space Station on 4 December 2019
on board a SpaceX-19 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0)

This robot will help astronauts feel less lonely

Watch SpaceX's Starship Mk1 partially explode during test

A lander is lifted during a test of hovering, obstacle avoidance and deceleration
capabilities at a facility in Huailai in China's Hebei province, Thursday, Nov.
14, 2019. China has invited international observers to the test of its Mars lander
as it pushes for inclusion in more global space projects. Thursday's test was
conducted at a site outside Beijing simulating conditions on the Red Planet, where
the pull of gravity is about one-third that of Earth. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
China completes its first public test of a Mars lander

Watch Boeing's Starliner spacecraft complete a critical test

The United States Air Force announced its mysterious X-37B space plane landed on
October 27, 2019, after 780 days in space.
Mysterious space plane lands after 780 days in orbit
Full Range Virgin Galactic and Under Armour Spacewear System for Private Astronauts
See Virgin Galactic's Under Armour spacesuits

See NASA's new spacesuits for the moon and beyond

Artist's concept of the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft approaching the sun. In
order to unlock the mysteries of the corona, but also to protect a society that is
increasingly dependent on technology from the threats of space weather, we will
send Solar Probe Plus to touch the sun.
Listen: The sun is not silent
Atlas V Launch
Atlas V launches for US Space Force mission
NASA Commercial Crew astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken
Meet the two astronauts set to make history in a SpaceX capsule

See the Solar Orbiter launch into space

SpaceX launches more satellites for its internet constellation

SpaceX's Crew Dragon completes last test before first astronaut mission

SpaceX rocket lands on droneship after launching satellite

New Shepard takes off on Mission NS-10 - January 23, 2019
Watch Bezos' Blue Origin test its space tourism rocket
(CNN)At the center of our solar system, the sun is a constant force keeping planets
in orbit, providing Earth with just the right amount of light and warmth for life
and even governing our daily schedules. While we're used to the sun rising and
setting each day, the sun itself is incredibly dynamic.

And just like us, it goes through phases and changes. Over time, those changes in
our star have become more predictable. Currently, it's 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 showcases more sunspots and solar flares.
In a solar minimum, the sun is much quieter, meaning less sunspots and energy.
Scientists at NASA say we're currently in a "Grand Solar Minimum." The last time
this occurred was between 1650 and 1715, during what's known as the Little Ice Age
in Earth's Northern Hemisphere, "when combination of cooling from volcanic aerosols
and low solar activity produced lower surface temperatures," according to NASA's
Global Climate Change blog.
But this solar minimum won't spark another ice age, they say. And that's likely due
to climate change.
NASA's mission to touch the sun is unraveling our star's mysteries
NASA's mission to touch the sun is unraveling our star's mysteries
"The warming caused by the greenhouse gas emissions from the human burning of
fossil fuels is six times greater than the possible decades-long cooling from a
prolonged Grand Solar Minimum," they wrote.
"Even if a Grand Solar Minimum were to last a century, global temperatures would
continue to warm. Because more factors than just variations in the Sun's output
change global temperatures on Earth, the most dominant of those today being the
warming coming from human-induced greenhouse gas emissions."
Scientists have known this solar minimum was coming because it's a regular aspect
of the sun's cycle. Sunspots were peaking in 2014, with low points beginning in
2019, according to NASA.
The sun is also responsible for what's known as space weather, sending particles
and cosmic rays streaming across our solar system. The sun's strongly magnetized
sunspots release solar flares, which can send X-rays and ultraviolet radiation
hurtling toward Earth.
Parker Solar Probe sends back images from its orbits of the sun
Parker Solar Probe sends back images from its orbits of the sun
Even when the sun is quiet during the solar minimum, it can be active in other
ways, like coronal holes that open in the sun's atmosphere and send out blazing
streams of energized particles flying through the solar system on rapid solar wind.
Much like solar flares, these streams of particles during a solar minimum can
disrupt the communication and GPS we rely on from satellites.
"We see these holes throughout the solar cycle, but during solar minimum, they can
last for a long time — six months or more," said Dean Pesnell, project scientist of
the Solar Dynamics Observatory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in a 2017
NASA blog post.
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.
"During solar minimum, the sun's magnetic field weakens and provides less shielding
from these cosmic rays," Pesnell said. "This can pose an increased threat to
astronauts traveling through space."
This week, the NASA Sun & Space account shared this on Twitter amid concerns about
the solar minimum. "The Sun goes through regular cycles of high & low activity.
This cycle affects the frequency of space weather events, but it doesn't have a
major effect on Earth's climate — even an extended minimum wouldn't have a
significant effect on global temperature."
The Sun goes through regular cycles of high & low activity. This cycle affects the
frequency of space weather events, but it doesn't have a major effect on Earth's
climate — even an extended minimum wouldn't have a significant effect on global
temperature. https://t.co/t2Fw58ZBVt

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) May 18, 2020

This solar minimum ends solar cycle 24. Early predictions estimated the peak of
solar cycle 25 will occur in July 2025, according to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
The solar cycle forecast is based on a NOAA and NASA co-chaired international
panel. They agree that solar cycle 25 will be similar to cycle 24.
Studying the sun
In August 2018, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe to draw closer to the sun than
any satellite before. It's a unique opportunity to study "the star in our
backyard," as NASA Heliophysics Division Director Nicola Fox is fond of saying. And
it's witnessing the sun during solar minimum up close.
The probe was designed to help answer fundamental questions about the solar wind
that streams out from the sun, flinging energetic particles across the solar
system. Its instruments may also provide insight about why the sun's corona, the
outer atmosphere of the star, is so much hotter than the actual surface. The corona
is 1 million kelvins, while the surface is around 6,000 kelvins.
Understanding the solar wind and the blazing heat of the corona are key. They both
play a role in space weather and solar storms, and understanding the solar wind
could enable better prediction of space weather.
Solar wind and the corona's temperature also impact ejections of mass from the
corona, which could impact the global power grid and telecommunications on Earth,
as well as our astronauts on the International Space Station. The energized and
accelerated particles streaming away from the sun in the solar wind are also
responsible for the northern and southern lights we see on Earth.
First detailed images of a turbulent surface of the sun, thanks to new telescope
First detailed images of a turbulent surface of the sun, thanks to new telescope
Some of the first results from the probe's early passes around the sun have already
proved intriguing.
During its first close encounter with the sun, the Parker Solar Probe essentially
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 field 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, principal
investigator for the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun suite, or ISʘIS,
at Princeton University in New Jersey, in a statement when the first results
released. "These measurements will help us unravel the sources, acceleration and
transport of solar energetic particles and ultimately better protect satellites and
astronauts in the future."
Over the course of 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.
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