According to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the Sun’s magnetic field is about to flip. This announcement is supported by data from NASA-funded observatories.

“It looks like we’re no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal,” said Todd Hoeksema, a solar physicist at Stanford University, in a new release. “This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.”

According to NASA, the Sun’s magnetic field alters polarity about every 11 years. It takes place at the apex of each solar cycle as the Sun’s inner magnetic dynamic rearranges itself. The coming change will indicate the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24, meaning that half of “solar max” will be over, with the other half still to come.

Stanford’s Wilcox Solar Observatory keeps a close eye on the Sun’s polar magnetic fields. The poles are a messenger of change. Magnetograms at the Wilcox Solar Observatory have been monitoring the Sun’s polar magnetism since 1976, and they have documented three reversals. The fourth will take place very soon.

“The sun’s polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero and then emerge again with the opposite polarity,” said Phil Sherrer, also a solar physicist at Stanford University, in discussing what occurs when the Sun’s magnetic field flips. “This is a regular part of the solar cycle.”

A reversal of the Sun’s magnetic field is a huge occurrence for solar physicists. The Sun’s heliosphere, also known as the region of its magnetic influence, stretches out billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Alterations to the magnetic field’s polarity flow all the way out to the Voyager probes.

The term “current sheet” is often discussed when solar physicists converse about solar field reversals. The current sheet is a spread out surface projecting outward from the Sun’s equator where the Sun’s slowly rotating magnetic field generates an electrical current. The current itself is small, but there’s a ton of it: the amperage courses through a region 10,000 km thick and billions of kilometers wide. According to NASA, the Sun’s heliosphere is arranged around the gigantic sheet.

When the Sun’s magnetic field reverses, the current sheet becomes extremely wavy. As Earth circles the Sun, we dive in and out of the current sheet. According to the space agency, transitions from one side to another can produce stormy space weather around our planet.

Cosmic rays are also impacted. These are high-energy particles sped up to almost light speed by supernova explosions and other destructive events in the galaxy. Cosmic rays are hazardous to astronauts and space probes, and some researchers contend that they might influence the cloudiness and climate of our planet.

According to NASA, the current sheet serves as a shield to cosmic rays, shoving them away as they try to pierce the inner solar system. A wavy sheet serves as an improved shield against these high-energy particles.

Wilcox data already reveal that the Sun’s polar regions are out of sync.

“The sun’s north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up,” Scherrer noted. “Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of solar max will be underway.”

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