NASA warns hyper solar activity after decades reversing quiet sun patterns

NASA has sounded alarm over increased solar activity that is responsible for causing extreme solar flares, satellite damages, and altered space weather.

According to scientists, over the last 16 years the sun has increasingly become hyper active as it is slowly waking up.

The research study led by Jamie Jasinski of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters, shed light on the activity of the sun that has exponentially increased after 2008 which goes against scientists’ expectations of low activity.

“All signs were pointing to the sun going into a prolonged phase of low activity. So it was a surprise to see that trend reversed. The sun is slowly waking up," said Jamie.

As the result of unprecedentedly increased solar activity, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejection, the communication systems have disrupted, leading to GPS errors, satellite damage, radio blackouts, and power grid failures on Earth.

Moreover, charged particles emitting from the sun can also alter earth's magnetic field, thereby causing strong auroras such as Northern Lights.

“We don’t really know why the sun went through a 40-year minimum starting in 1790,” Dr Jasinski said.

“The longer-term trends are a lot less predictable and are something we don’t completely understand yet,” he added.