1 00:00:00,500 --> 00:00:01,370 Voice off Screen: Scientists around the 2 00:00:01,370 --> 00:00:05,290 world have their eyes turned to the sun this week as it reveals as massive active 3 00:00:05,290 --> 00:00:09,490 region that could affect us here on Earth. And here joining us from NASAs Goddard 4 00:00:09,490 --> 00:00:13,469 Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland is Dr. Holly Gilbert. Thank you 5 00:00:13,469 --> 00:00:16,110 for joining us. Dr.Gilbert: Thank you for having me. Voice off Screen: So what is a 6 00:00:16,110 --> 00:00:17,170 sunspot and what 7 00:00:17,170 --> 00:00:21,359 makes this one so special. Dr. Gilbert: Sunspots are these dark regions on the sun 8 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:25,590 where magnetic fields are bundled together and it creates such a strong magnetic 9 00:00:25,590 --> 00:00:29,199 field that light and heat cannot cross it, so it appears 10 00:00:29,199 --> 00:00:33,610 dark relative to the surrounding area. And the particular sunspot region 11 00:00:33,610 --> 00:00:37,450 that we're interested, right now is the largest that we've seen 12 00:00:37,450 --> 00:00:38,840 in twenty-four years. 13 00:00:40,180 --> 00:00:41,540 Voice off Screen: Fascinating, so 14 00:00:41,540 --> 00:00:45,469 why do we want to learn more from this sunspot? Dr. Gilbert: Sunspots are regions where 15 00:00:45,469 --> 00:00:49,629 solar storms originate, so basically where space weather originates. It's 16 00:00:49,629 --> 00:00:54,059 important to study these things because they have flares that are associated with them 17 00:00:54,059 --> 00:00:57,570 and these bigger storms called coronal mass ejections. So by 18 00:00:57,570 --> 00:01:01,879 studying the sunspot region itself, and how it evolves we will understand 19 00:01:01,879 --> 00:01:05,449 more about how solar flares are created and when they will 20 00:01:05,449 --> 00:01:06,569 impact the Earth. 21 00:01:07,700 --> 00:01:09,980 Voice off Screen: So will this affect us here on Earth ? 22 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,820 Dr. Gilbert: We don't know yet. It's possible that it will in the next week cause it's 23 00:01:13,830 --> 00:01:17,820 still going to be on the side of the sun facing us. It maybe associated 24 00:01:17,820 --> 00:01:21,930 with these mass ejections, and if they are directed towards the Earth they can 25 00:01:21,930 --> 00:01:25,960 interact with the Earth's magnetic field and cause problems with our 26 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:30,310 satellites, our power grids, our technology. We're protected on the surface 27 00:01:30,310 --> 00:01:34,000 from that magnetic field of the Earth and the atmosphere. But our technology is susceptible 28 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,540 to these types of storms. 29 00:01:35,540 --> 00:01:36,040 Voice off Screen: Neat. 30 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,420 So what is NASA doing to 31 00:01:38,420 --> 00:01:42,100 study sunspots? Dr. Gilbert: Well we have our eye on the sun all the time 32 00:01:42,110 --> 00:01:46,220 and so we're watching this particular sunspot along with our partners at NOAA, 33 00:01:46,220 --> 00:01:50,110 we have a mission called the Solar Dynamics Observatory which images the sun 34 00:01:50,110 --> 00:01:53,950 all the time and we also have a fleet of missions that 35 00:01:53,950 --> 00:01:57,899 not only look at the sun, but study what's happening here near 36 00:01:57,899 --> 00:02:01,990 the Eath as well as throughout the solar system. In fact we have a new mission that we're 37 00:02:01,990 --> 00:02:06,149 about to launch next year, that are four identical spacecraft. This is 38 00:02:06,149 --> 00:02:10,190 called MMS and those four spacecraft will be inside the 39 00:02:10,190 --> 00:02:14,030 Earth's magentic field, basically taking measurements of these 40 00:02:14,030 --> 00:02:17,870 processes that create the solar flares on the sun. But these 41 00:02:17,870 --> 00:02:22,590 processes happen near the Earth they also happen on the sun and throughout the universe, 42 00:02:22,590 --> 00:02:26,170 near us in our labratory of the Earth we can understand better 43 00:02:26,170 --> 00:02:29,819 how they happen. Voice off Screen: Great. Where can we go to learn more? 44 00:02:29,819 --> 00:02:33,810 Dr. Gilbert: You can go to are website to find a lot more about our missions and 45 00:02:33,810 --> 00:02:37,130 lots of images nasa.gov/sunearth. 46 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,320 Voice off Screen: Dr. Holly Gilbert thank you so much. Dr. Gilbert: Thank you.