"The intense magnetic activity can produce large flares on the surface of the sun, which are in fact typically observed in the vicinity of sunspots," Caselli said.
It is these flares that are feared, as they may impact satellite operations and cause widespread damage.
It has happened before, it will happen again
This cycle of sun spots is no new discovery. We have known for some time that our sun is quite an active star, with a surface far from being smooth and uniform, Professor Caselli explained.
"We have known a long time that the sun has dark spots, the so-called sun spots, which were telescopically observed for the first time in the early 17th Century," she said.
Indeed, Galileo was among the first to have identified these sun spots.
Furthermore, there are records of solar storms hitting our planet. Thus far, no widespread damage has occurred, but there have been fluctuations in how powerful the storms were.
"The rise in the solar activity is not constant and occasionally larger solar storms have been recorded, such as those in 1859 and 1921. But at that time, there was not major disruption, given that we were not yet so dependent on electronics," Caselli continued.
In 1994, a solar storm caused disruption in Canada, affecting communication satellites, network television and radio as well as electrical power grids.
A major issue is that it is difficult to predict the intensity of the next solar storm. In turn, this surely makes it harder for governments and businesses to prepare.
