Tuesday, August 20, 2013

What Will Happen When the Sun’s Magnetic Poles Reverse?

What Will Happen When the Sun’s Magnetic Poles Reverse?:


The Sun’s magnetic field will likely reverse sometime in the next three to four months. No, this is not the next doomsday prediction scenario. It really will happen. But there’s nothing to fear because in reality the Sun’s magnetic field changes regularly about every 11 years.
The flip-flopping of the Sun’s magnetic field takes place at the peak of each solar activity cycle when the Sun’s internal magnetic dynamo reorients itself. When the field reversal happens, the magnetic field weakens, then dies down to zero before emerging again with a reversed polarity.
While this is not a catastrophic event, the reversal will have effects, said solar physicist Todd Hoeksema, the director of Stanford University’s Wilcox Solar Observatory, who monitors the Sun’s polar magnetic fields. “This change will have ripple effects throughout the Solar System,” he said.
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Read the rest of What Will Happen When the Sun’s Magnetic Poles Reverse? (320 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2013. |Permalink |2 comments |
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