Do any special events happen in the magnetosphere?
Yes…many. There are magnetic storms that can trigger aurora at the poiles .There are poorly-understood particles storms that cause electrons and protoins to get boosted to millions of volts of energy, and sometimes disable satellites. Eareths magnetic field is very complicated in space, and the changes cause all sorts of things to happen, and currents of particles to flow. Dr. Sten Odenwald Solar Astronomer NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Solar Cycle QUESTION: Is there a pattern for when storms on the sun occur? ANSWER: There are two dominant patterns. Activity on the Sun varies in an 11-year cycle. At the peak of the cycle, storms occur much more frequently. At solar minimum there may be no storms on the Sun at all. The “active regions” of the Sun also persist sometimes for many months. Because the Sun rotates roughly once per month, here on Earth we see storms repeating monthly,as the same region rotates around to face the Earth. Mark Conde Assistant Professor of Physics Geophysic
