The Sun Has A Giant Black Hole In It. Is Now The Time To Panic?
Science Alert - A giant hole in the atmosphere of the Sun more than five times larger than the diameter of Jupiter is unleashing a powerful solar wind that's blasting through the Solar System.
It's called a coronal hole, and it's currently rotating away from Earth – but a few days ago, from its position straddling the equator, it was pointed right at us, directing a stream of particles in Earth's direction.
The result was nothing to be alarmed about – a mild solar storm – but the hole does contribute to a wider pattern of rampant solar shenanigans as we enter solar maximum.
The Sun has been quite rowdy lately, which is sort of to be expected.
Our star goes through activity cycles, in which it gets more active with sunspots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and coronal holes.
This activity escalates to a peak – solar maximum – before subsiding again towards solar minimum, a period of relative calm and minimal activity.
Nothing to worry about here guys. "The result was nothing to be alarmed about – a mild solar storm – but the hole does contribute to a wider pattern of rampant solar shenanigans as we enter solar maximum."
I've listened to "Black Hole Sun" far too many times to not recognize a prophecy when I see one.
StutteringCold and dampSteal the warm wind, tired friendTimes are goneFor honest menSometimes, far too long for snakesIn my shoesWalking sleepIn my youth, I pray to keepHeaven sendHell awayNo one sings like you anymore
Chris Cornell was a smart guy. Some say too smart. He wrote this song back in 1994. Almost 30 years ago.
(Fun Fact - “Black Hole Sun” was originally written by Soundgarden’s lead singer and frontman, Chris Cornell, in his car as he was driving home one night in the Emerald City.
Cornell added, “lyrically it’s probably the closest to me just playing with words for words’ sake, of anything I’ve written. I guess it worked for a lot of people who heard it, but I have no idea how you’d begin to take that one literally.”
In another interview, he added, “It’s funny because hits are usually sort of congruent, sort of an identifiable lyric idea, and that song pretty much had none. The chorus lyric is kind of beautiful and easy to remember. Other than that, I sure didn’t have an understanding of it after I wrote it. I was just sucked in by the music and I was painting a picture with the lyrics. There was no real idea to get across.”
He continued, “No one seems to get this, but ‘Black Hole Sun’ is sad. But because the melody is really pretty, everyone thinks it’s almost chipper, which is ridiculous.”)
If you've ever seen the music video, which was on constantly in the 90s on MTV, the imagery is burned into your brain.
A regular day in suburbia is rocked by a rip in the sun, a "black hole" if you will, which brings on the apocalypse.
“Times Are Gone For Honest Men”
Of that bit of lyric, Cornell has explained, “It’s really difficult for a person to create their own life and their own freedom. It’s going to become more and more difficult, and it’s going to create more and more disillusioned people who become dishonest and angry and are willing to fuck the next guy to get what they want. There’s so much stepping on the backs of other people in our profession. We’ve been so lucky that we’ve never had to do that. Part of it was because of our own tenacity, and part of it was because we were lucky.”
For The NASA nerds to sit here and tell us this is nothing to worry about screams to me the exact opposite. There's never been a bigger reason to worry.
I did a "Watch This When You're High" on solar storms and flares a little bit ago, an incident termed "The Carrington Event" in particular. It came across as a suggestion, and after learning about how terrifying a scenario it is, I've been freaked out about it ever since. ESPECIALLY as our society becomes more and more dependent and reliant upon technology and electronics.
I mean we're talking chaos and apocalypse on a level I don't even think we can comprehend if all the electronics and information and communication systems in the world went down and were rendered useless by a Solar Storm of this magnitude. It would be absolute madness. I don't even think my bug-out-bag could save me.
Happy Friday everybody!