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SALT LAKE CITY — Soon, the sun will be turning itself upside down, so to speak. It's currently at the midpoint of a long solar cycle, which means that its magnetic field will switch entirely: Positive will become negative and negative positive.
"It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," said solar physicist Todd Hoeksema in a statement from NASA. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system."
Does that mean there will be any big changes for us humans, all the way out here on the surface of Earth, clinging to life thanks to the beneficence of the sun and the heat and light it provides? Eh, not really. But it is pretty cool, and there may even be some mild benefits to the switch.
The sun operates on an 11-year cycle, created by all kinds of factors that scientists don't entirely understand. Among them are the convection currents inside the sun that generate a magnetic field, basically like an enormous dynamo. Those convections inside the sun eventually force the switch.
The most important effect will be changes in the shape of the sun's current sheet, a thin layer of electric current that runs through the entire solar system, extending billions of miles past Pluto. That current sheet does lots of little things, including helping to protect the earth from super-fast, high-energy particles called cosmic rays.
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Space is just so completely gigantically huge. It's difficult to convey just how completely gigantically huge it really is.The current sheet has been relatively flat, but at the time of a polarity switch, it becomes wavy, offering some increased protection. Cosmic rays can damage spaceships and threaten astronauts.
They may also have an effect on Earth's weather, as some scientists think that cosmic rays play a role in cloud formation and lightning.
"One of the things that helps clouds form and lightning to flash is cosmic-ray ionization of things in the Earth's atmosphere," Hoeksema told SPACE.com. "So when the cosmic-ray intensity is lower, it means you have fewer places where lightning will occur, and so the storms will probably be a little less intense."
However, he noted the theory linking cosmic rays and weather is a bit speculative.
The Earth's magnetic field is also caused by convection currents deep within the planet, and indeed also flips from time to time — roughly every 200,000 years. While scientists have noticed a small decrease in the strength of the Earth's poles, they shouldn't be switching for another 2,000 years or so.
