Slight opposing distortions of the “solar flares” shown at Rutland’s Farm on April 23 suggest a partial magnetic field reversal in our “quiet Sun”

A new crop picture at Rutland’s Farm on April 23, 2009 has stirred much interest, because it seems to show a series of “solar flares” emerging from our Sun. Many people have speculated that such a picture might be intended to warn us about a potentially catastrophic event in late 2012, when the current solar cycle ends.

We would like to suggest another, less catastrophic explanation, in terms of turbulent magnetic fields within our abnormally quiet Sun. Fox News reported recently: “The Sun has been unusually quiet lately, with fewer sunspots and weaker magnetic fields than in nearly a century” (see www.foxnews.com).  

A possible turbulence of underlying magnetic fields in our quiet Sun

Solar flares happen when the Sun’s magnetic field becomes turbulent or, in other words, when one part of it points in one direction, while another part points in another direction. This is well known from the astrophysics literature:

“Solar flares occur when magnetic fields in the Sun’s atmosphere rapidly change shape, and generate currents of electrically charged plasma” (see exploring magnetism in Solar Flares)

“In this study, I propose that the emergence of a current carrying magnetic field causes most, if not all, solar flares.” (see C.J. Schrijver, Astrophysical Journal 655, L117–L120, 2007).  

Thus, the relative quietness of our Sun may not suggest a strong directional field (like a river flowing in one direction, halfway between low tide and high tide), but rather an underlying turbulence where many small magnetic fields may be flowing in different directions (like a river with small eddies, close to low tide or high tide): see also “Turbulent Magnetic Fields in our Quiet Sun” by J. P. Graham et al., Astrophysical Journal 693, 1728-1735, 2009.  

How do large solar flares form?  

Large solar flares form when some curved coronal loop of magnetic field extends, then pinches off, from the main body: 

Look carefully at the small red arrow shown above (upper right). It tells in which direction the magnetic field of that coronal loop is flowing: say from left to right, or else from right to left.  

The crop picture from Rutland’s Farm seems to show solar flares of two different magnetic field directions 

When we study closely that new crop picture from Rutland’s Farm, we can see there a similar “curved tip” feature, just as indicated for most large solar flares in the previous diagram above.

Yet now the angular distortion of those “flares” or “curved tips”, away from an idealized straight geometry, seems to show two different field directions:  

Most of the red arrows (or magnetic fields) flow clockwise around the Sun’s perimeter as seen from Earth. Yet a few of them (on the left) flow counter-clockwise in an opposite direction. Such a mixed distribution of field polarities is just what one might expect for flare emissions from a quiet but turbulent Sun (see also www.reuters.com).  

“Turbulent magnetic fields, driven by highly chaotic fluid motions, may pervade relatively quiet regions of the solar photosphere” (see PP04043.pdf).  

If our quiet Sun is going to flare, when will it happen?  

Some people have argued that our Sun is most likely to flare in late 2012, when its overall magnetic field changes polarity by a regular 11-year cycle, and also (incidentally) when the Mayan Long Count calendar ends. That may still be true!  

But another possibility certainly exists, where our currently “quiet” Sun may flare in a minor fashion later this year, or even later this summer, as new sunspots finally start to emerge. 

In the past, those crop artists have shown upcoming astronomical events in oilseed rape during April or May, when some important astronomical event is scheduled for June, July or August of the same year. For example, in May of 1999 they showed us a “solar eclipse” picture in oilseed rape, which referred to a total solar eclipse on August 11, 1999:

Thus it would not seem impossible that we will see a minor solar flare later this year, when new sunspots finally begin to emerge, although its precise date remains to be determined. Morgan’s Hill of April 24, 2009 perhaps suggests “three cycles of new and full Moon” from April 25 to July 7, yet remains so cryptic that one cannot be sure (see /morgans2009).  

We have to wait for more information  

If a minor solar flare really is going to occur, later this summer or later in 2009, when new sunspots finally start to emerge, and when the Sun’s magnetic fields become very turbulent, then we should see further predictive crop pictures in May or June which will give us more information.

The importance of such an event would be that it cannot be predicted according to current theories of Earth science. Thus if it does occur, then the paranormal validity of the crop circle phenomenon will be completely validated in an a priori fashion (except for ostriches and emus, or members of the Flat Earth Society).  

Charles Reed and his friend Mike 

PS We would like to thank Nick Nicholson, Andreas Muller, Bertold Zugelder and Lucy Pringle for some of the photographs or diagrams used here.