NASA Data Suggests Solar Magnetic Field About To Flip 127
Freddybear writes "According to measurements from NASA solar observatories, the sun's magnetic field is about to reverse polarity. The event is predicted to occur within the next three to four months and will have effects throughout the solar system. These magnetic reversals happen regularly about every eleven years as part of the solar cycle."
Surprising frequency (Score:5, Interesting)
Given the predicted 8 billion year lifespan of the sun, 11 years is a blip. If you equated it to a human 80-year lifespan, the magnetic reversal would happen every 3.47 seconds. It's almost like a heartbeat at that rate.
Voyager experiments (Score:2, Interesting)
Could this be an opportunity for Voayager to finally measure the Sun's magnetosphere / edge of the solar system in more detail. The sun is not a perfect sphere I'm guessing, so the change should be recordable onboard Voyager if NASA gets lucky.