The system also includes the smaller Proxima b, on the left, a confirmed world that was discovered in 2016. (Image credit: Lorenzo Santinelli) Portrayed on the right is the newly discovered exoplanet candidate Proxima c, which orbits the red-dwarf host star once every 5.2 Earth years.
One of the top scientists on the subject, David Mauriello of the Oppenheimer Ranch Project, has gone so far as to call the intensifying magnetic reversal his biggest worry: “It is my firm opinion that the magnetic reversal is more severe than the Grand Solar Minimum could ever be,” says Mauriello, because new research suggests that the combined effects of 1) a waning magnetosphere (a side-effect of the magnetic reversals/excursions, which can drop Earth’s magnetic field strength to below 10 percent of its maximum), coupled with 2) a powerful plasma discharge from the Sun could be due in as little as 2 years.Ĭiting a new study, “ Discovery of an Extremely Short Duration Flare from Proxima Centauri Using Millimeter through Far-ultraviolet Observations,” one of the largest flares ever recorded in our galaxy –100 times more powerful than those emitted by the Sun– recently left Proxima Centauri, our star’s nearest neighbor.Īn artist’s illustration of the Proxima Centauri planetary system. While the Grand Solar Minimum will cause enough headaches and struggles to keep the human race occupied, there is an even more destructive threat looming: the shifting of Earth’s magnetic poles and the resulting depletion of our planet’s magnetic field (our protective shield against space weather).
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