Featured Image Credit: AstroKobi/YouTube / Surasak Suwanmake/Getty
The Sun is the source of basically everything that makes our planet livable, thanks to its warmth and light - but that doesn't mean it can't be a pretty scary celestial object in its own right.
Solar flares and storms are well-documented events, but what they actually mean can be hard to understand if you don't have any training in astronomy.
Thankfully, the YouTube channel AstroKobi published a video back in 2022 that explains some concepts around the Sun really clearly, although it contains a couple of pretty scary ideas and potential outcomes.
It explains how the Sun's magnetic field flips every 11 years, causing huge spikes in solar activity like sun storms and solar flares - which can completely mess with electric systems and networks.
This cycle has its next solar maximum - the point of maximum volatility - in 2025, making the risks at their highest next year.
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Referring to a historic episode called the Carrington Event, which was a recorded solar storm way back in the 1850s that knocked down electric systems all the way on Earth, the video compares what would happen if it occurred now.
In that example, some electric systems could be used without needing a power source, so high was the atmospheric electricity level, but others were defunct.
So, if that happened now, it's estimated that a worldwide blackout could be instantaneous and potentially last for years, as we struggled to build our systems back up and repair things.
The radiation that comes with such a storm could also be really threatening for human health, so it's pretty much an apocalyptic situation, in concept at least.
Records show that the Carrington Event wasn't even that huge a spike in a much longer historical context, so it's possible that much bigger storms could be coming down the pike at some point.
AstroKobi says that if a huge storm is detected as being on the way, contingencies like shutting whole electric grids down could help mitigate the effects heavily. Whether plans for this sort of crazy event actually exist on a governmental level is anyone's guess, really.
The chances of this sort of event actually happening are low, though, so don't necessarily worry about buying a Faraday cage and loads of tinfoil to protect all your electronics.
Still, this is a pretty foreboding thing to be aware of, and the video is well worth a watch if you're interested in space and astronomy.
