Solar storm danger: Our sun could create violent super flares!

Solar storm danger: Our sun could create violent super flares!

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen have published alarming results on so-called superflares, which could also affect our sun. These huge eruptions on sun -like stars occur on average once a century and release a huge amount of energy - more than trillion hydrogen bombs and yet often underestimated, as the study results illustrate. These eruptions, which in their strength exceed all previous sun eruptions, could also be potentially dangerous for the earth because they cause electromagnetic disorders that affect aviation and communication systems. In a comprehensive analysis of 56,450 sun-like stars, 2,889 such superflares were identified, which reveals the frequency of these phenomena as ten to hundred times more often than previously assumed, as MPS .

The power of the sun

The survey shows that our sun is also capable of such huge outbursts, although the likelihood that this happens is still being assessed as low. Nevertheless, the activity of other, sun -like stars could indicate future behavior of our sun. The researchers evaluated brightness measurements of the Kepler Waterpaum Telescope and found that similar stars create superflares every 100 years. The study encourages previous assumptions that under certain conditions there can also be violent outbreaks in our sun. This is supported by historical data, such as tree rings and glacier samples, which provide information on past solar activities, but do not allow reliable conclusions to be drawn about the frequency of the superflares, explains Orf .

The new findings make it clear that extreme solar storms are part of the natural behavior of the sun. The prediction of such events is of crucial importance to prevent possible infrastructure and satellite damage. With the ESA room probe Vigil, which is to be put into operation from 2031, there are already plans to enable better predictions for future space weather phenomena such as superflares. By switching off satellites in good time, one could protect yourself against the devastating effects of such eruptions, emphasize the scientists in their current publication