The Solar Magnetic Field from Solar Minimum to Pole Flip

(svs.gsfc.nasa.gov)

10 points | by keepamovin 3 hours ago ago

4 comments

  • mikece 3 hours ago

    I'm curious why the government stopped reporting on the weakening of Earth's magnetic field. The auroras we've seen of late are from pretty small (historically) solar events but between the acceleration of the migration of the magnetic poles and the overall weakening of Earth's magnetic fields we're seeing auroral results that are orders of magnitude out of proportion. God forbid a Carrington event were to happen now... the global grid would go down and it would not be a pleasant time to be alive.

    • r2_pilot 2 hours ago

      > I'm curious why the government stopped reporting on the weakening of Earth's magnetic field.

      It, er, hasn't stopped reporting that? Ref : https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/eart...

      Not to mention airports have to update their markings regularly. As for the Carrington event stuff, thankfully we've been upgrading the US grid for a decade+ to better handle these anomalous currents. I'm not losing sleep over it and am enjoying the aurora's display all the way in Mississippi. Anyway, there is government-provided information out there if you want to dispel your ignorance further.

    • itishappy 2 hours ago

      You getting your info from Ben?

      https://www.youtube.com/@Suspicious0bservers

      https://suspicious0bservers.org/

      Be aware he's a bigger alarmist than the IPCC. There's good info there, but I'd be careful assuming everything he says is generally accepted fact.

      > Are we about to have a magnetic reversal?

      > Almost certainly not.

      https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/are-we-about-have-a-magnetic-rever...

      > In the past 200 years, Earth’s magnetic field has weakened about nine percent on a global average. Some people cite this as “evidence” a pole reversal is imminent, but scientists have no reason to believe so. In fact, paleomagnetic studies show the field is about as strong as it’s been in the past 100,000 years, and is twice as intense as its million-year average. While some scientists estimate the field’s strength might completely decay in about 1,300 years, the current weakening could stop at any time.

      https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/flip...

      > It has been speculated whether the current weakening of the field is a sign that Earth is heading for an eminent pole reversal – in which the north and south magnetic poles switch places. Such events have occurred many times throughout the planet’s history and even though we are long overdue by the average rate at which these reversals take place (roughly every 250 000 years), the intensity dip in the South Atlantic occurring now is well within what is considered normal levels of fluctuations.

      https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureE...

  • keepamovin 3 hours ago

    The videos on this page are particularly interesting, especially: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5344/#media_group_376064

    The solar magnetic field, propagated from the photospheric magnetograms using the PFSS (Potential-Field Source Surface) model. This covers the time frame from December 2019 through September 2024. This view uses a camera that rotates with the Sun so the view is over the same equatorial longitude.