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NASA: Massive Black Hole Is Spreading Over Our Sun, Rising Solar Winds Could Produce Magnetic Storms

By Coburn Palmer
Published on: 13:55 PST, Jul 14, 2016

A NASA spacecraft orbiting the Earth has spotted a massive black hole growing on the surface of our sun, but despite some panicked reports, the national space agency promises that all is well.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, a telescope aimed constantly at the sun to monitor its activity and study solar storms, spotted the astronomical phenomenon, known as a coronal hole, according to Metro.

“Coronal holes are low-density regions of the sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona. Because they contain little solar material, they have lower temperatures and thus appear much darker than their surroundings.”

Despite its apocalyptic appearance, the massive black hole growing over the sun is a normal phenomenon for our star that occurs sporadically. The lower density area of the black hole opens the sun’s magnetic field to space, creating solar winds that shoot outwards towards the planets in our solar system.

The resulting solar winds can interact with Earth’s magnetic field, creating a magnetic storm that can play havoc with technical equipment here on Earth. The magnetic storms have been known to knock out radio signals, airline communication, and disrupt GPS devices, reports Science Alert.

“Coronal holes are the source of a high-speed wind of solar particles that streams off the sun some three times faster than the slower wind elsewhere. They can appear anywhere from weeks to months at a time, and can take up as much as a quarter of the sun’s surface.”

The last large geomagnetic storm in 1989 knocked out Canada’s Hydro-Quebec power network and left some 6 million people in the dark for at least nine hours. The storms can also harm astronauts and spacecraft in orbit above Earth by showering them with dangerous radiation.

They can also create beautiful views in our night sky.

In October of last year, another coronal hole created gorgeous Northern Lights visible to the naked eye to appear for several nights. The coronal hole is viewed in ultraviolet light, which highlights the sun’s atmosphere, or corona, according to Metro.

“Coronal holes are visible in certain types of extreme ultraviolet light, which is typically invisible to our eyes.”

NASA launched the Solar Dynamics Observatory, SDO, to study the sun and determine how our star’s magnetic field is generated, stored, converted to energy, and released. Scientists hope to use it to better understand solar winds and their effect on Earth’s satellites.

The discovery of the black hole growing over our sun and the solar storms that are sure to follow come on the heels of another important observation scientists made while observing our star.

Twice last month, scientists observed a lack of sun spots on our star, meaning it could be entering a period of decreased activity that could culminate in a “solar minimum” sometime in 2019 or 2020.

Our star cycles through changes every 11 years that correspond with increased and decreased solar activity. The last time such a long solar minimum occurred was in 1645 during a 70-year period scientists refer to as the “Maunder Minimum” when it was so cold the English river Thames froze over, according to Vencore Weather.

“If history is any guide, it is safe to say that weak solar activity for a prolonged period of time can have a cooling impact on global temperatures in the troposphere which is the bottommost layer of Earth’s atmosphere, and where we all live.”

The “Maunder Minimum” is also referred to as a mini ice age, and some sun gazers are worried it could happen again. If the Earth does cool in such a dramatic fashion, it could put global warming fears to rest.

[Image via YouTube/A Hole In The Sun]

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