The more we learn about the sun the more fascinating it becomes far from being a flaming ball of gas in the sky. It's a complex network of magnetic fields plasma fountains and strange blobs of unexplained matter that are formed at its surface. But recently researchers have discovered some of the most powerful events ever measured known as Solar Terminator Events.
You probably know that the sun goes through a cycle of peaks and troughs in terms of activity. Every 11 years or so there are times when it's far more active than others towards the end of the cycle.
There are fewer sunspots and emissions so scientists were trying to find out what happens to kickstart the process all over again. They found that towards the end of the cycle weakened magnetic fields collide along the sun's equator and these trigger huge tsunamis of plasma that ripple across its surface for weeks at a time.
In the wake of these storms which are the most powerful to take place in the solar system giant spots begin to form on the sun and the cycle starts again.
Quite how these Terminator Events are triggered is not known though and it's not entirely clear if this happens at the end of every cycle or whether it's less frequent than that.
# NASA’s SDO Captures Brilliant Solar Eruption:
One thing's for sure and that's that there's still a lot more to learn about the star that we rely on so much and what we find out could have profound consequences for us as a species.
