Question

There is a hole in the sun the size of 6,000 earths, due to wipe the power grid

Answer 1

  This is not necessarily true and I consider this fearmongering. Although the TikTok user who goes by Bearbaitofficial seems to be a professor's TA or some sort of teacher at a college there is no proof that she is a professor. Additionally, the article that is by Eric Ralls behind her at the end of the video has been either updated or the article was made as a farce. This is because this article https://www.earth.com/news/alert-strongest-solar-event-ever-recorded-will-soon-cause-disruptions-on-earth/ states that the Sunflare in question was the biggest in the past 6 years. This is a stark difference from the biggest Sunflare of all time. I have yet to find any source to say that solar flares have been occurring more frequently or more intensely. The Sun Flare that is referred to in said article was a significant one, but there doesn’t seem to be evidence to suggest that this is a pattern. Additionally, it missed the Earth's atmosphere and rendered no damage. Therefore there is no saying that a solar flare will ever hit Earth. Not saying this absolutely couldn’t be a problem but I have to see an article from a credited professor or scientist that claims that Solar Flares are getting more common. This more credible article from Earthsky explains how there were previous solar storms that matched the size of this one. I would argue that this is misleading because the solar flare was huge and theoretically could happen.

Comments

I agree with your assessment that the creator of this post on TikTok was fear-mongering. Upon scrolling through more of her posts on TikTok she seems to post about events or things that could negatively impact the human race. She covers everything from bears to viruses. In none of her videos however does she ever cite any data or articles. She posts misleading information on the platform to spark a reaction and get likes.

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I think this fact checker did a good job of giving an overview of the information. I agree that it seems like the TikTok was exaggerated and misleading. This video also had the attention to scare people so that the information would spread faster. This commenter explained the information in a clear way that explained the true and false information in the original video.

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Great job of breaking down the lack of information to demote this claim. I appreciate how you said there is a general lack of information from a credited source like a professor or doctor. You clearly stated what the article stated that you found. you might want to add to your information and as we learned in class search "horizontally" for other sources who say the same thing.

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I agree that this is fearmongering. I don't think the original TikTok user really knew what they were talking about, and used what knowledge they have to gain likes and views online.

Answer 2

I think the intentions of this TikTok aren't meant to be misleading. However, the content has been heavily exaggerated. The "hole" in the sun that the video is referring to is known as a coronal hole. Coronal holes are dark regions in the sun of open magnetic fields which can cause disruptions such as solar flares (According to https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-holes). In the video she states that the most recent coronal hole is wider than 6,000 Earths. However, this is inaccurate because the hole is actually only as wide as 60 Earths (According to https://www.sciencealert.com/gaping-hole-in-the-sun-bigger-than-60-earths-just-blasted-solar-wind-right-at-us). There is expected to be similar solar activity in 2024 due to the Solar Cycle 25. However, it is not as alarming as the TikTok makes it seem. Navigation/communication and radio signals could possibly be impacted, but there are resiliencies already built into current communication systems and electrical grids to prevent potential impact from solar flares (According to https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/4384088-strongest-solar-flare-since-2017-detected-heres-what-to-know/). I think this video could useful in making people aware about the possible risks of satellites going out due to coronal holes in the sun. Although, the warnings and information have been exaggerated.

Answer 3

You are correct that there is a hole in the sun. However, your comment is also false, in that the hole is the size of "6,000 Earths." According to sources I found after googling this claim, the hole is only the size of 60 Earths. This makes it a little less terrifying. 

Space.com defines this hole as a "coronal hole" which, according to the NOAA, "This open, magnetic field line structure allows the solar wind to escape more readily into space, resulting in streams of relatively fast solar wind." While your claim states that we may be facing a massive power outage (which never happened, because that was over a month ago) the coronal hole will have little to no effect on everyday activity on Earth. 

Answer 4

I do not think this user is trying to spread false information on purpose; however, it is misleading. This TikTok user does not cite the article she is referring to or give the viewers any other information that is supported and can be taken seriously. This hole in the sun that is the size of 6,000 earths is not technically true. It is called coronal holes. They appear dark because they are cooler and less dense than the other areas of the sun and this causes solar winds. The solar winds that we are seeing from this are less intense than what Bearbaitofficial seems to be saying. Solar flares and winds are more common than we think according to live science. https://www.livescience.com/space/the-sun/gigantic-hole-in-the-sun-wider-than-60-earths-is-spewing-superfast-solar-wind-right-at-us. In addition, coronal holes will most likely not have an affect on if our power grid goes out especially the one she was referring to.

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-holes

Comments

This was a well thought-out and information-heavy fact-check that gives exactly what is needed without offering any extra or unnecessary information while still citing an article. Good job!

Answer 5

This TikTok claims that there is a hole in the sun that is the size of 6,000 earths and could potentially knock out all of the satellites with the energy released from the hole. She claims that the sun has been increasing activity which is true. However, the increase in activity does not mean that the sun is going to be shooting out energy from this hole. The activity has been increasing which indicates the start of a new sun cycle. Although this does mean that the sun is going to be overly active during this cycle there could be eruptions in this new cycle just like there were on the other cycles. This claim about the sun being more active recently is misleading because this activity does not pose a serious threat it just signifies the new sun cycle. https://www.weather.gov/news/201509-solar-cycle#:~:text=For%20the%20past%20eight%20months,a%20peak%20of%20115%20sunspots.

The hole that she is talking about is called a coronal hole. It is roughly 497,000 miles in length and the earths diameter is 7926 miles. If we divide the length of the hole by the diameter we get 62.7 which equates to 62 earths. The hole is the length of 62 earths not 6,000. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/

She brings up a little information and exaggerates it to give a narrative that we should be worried about this hole. There is not threat to our lives from this coronal hole.

Answer 6

While it's true that there is a lot of activity around the sun; more than there has been for the last decade. The claim the these CMEs will take out the power grid is speculation. That is the worst outcome, and is not very likely. Its more likely for us to lose radio communication for a little bit. This will affect us negatively, but its not going to spell the end of modern civilization or anything.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/massive-hole-sun-unleashes-18million-29584744

https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-more-active-solar-storms-auroras-power-outages-grounded-flights-2023-2

https://www.noaa.gov/stories/what-to-expect-from-peak-of-solar-cycle-25

Answer 7

This main claim in this article is inaccurate. According to science alert.com, the hole in that is in the sun is only 60 earths wide and is nothing to be alarmed about. The source is a creator on tiktok which is not a high quality reliable source. The creator of this post is someone who posts about all things potentially dangerous with the intent to scare people. Other media outlets reporting this news report a far less exaggerated version of the story. The text is written with the intent to rile people up and create fear in exchange for views.

https://www.earth.com/news/alert-strongest-solar-event-ever-recorded-will-soon-cause-disruptions-on-earth/

https://www.sciencealert.com/gaping-hole-in-the-sun-bigger-than-60-earths-just-blasted-solar-wind-right-at-us

Answer 8

This claim that there is a hole in the sun the size of 6,000 earths which will wipe out the power grid is misleading and partially false. First of all, the “hole in the sun” is recorded to be roughly the size of 60 earths, not 6,000. Every website I visited, including earth.com and space.com, supported this fact. The hole that the speaker is referring to is a coronal hole, which shows up dark on ultraviolet images because “they are cooler, less dense regions than the surrounding plasma,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This coronal hole has already interfered with aircraft radio communications and we can expect more potential disruptions to the power grid. While likely well-intentioned, this speaker doesn’t provide any resources or solutions in the event of an outage. This video is fear-mongering and contains false information about the size of the coronal hole, which brings the speaker’s credibility into question.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that the NOAA alert that the speaker references is discussed in an article on earth.com. I could not find the actual alert directly from the NOAA. It’s possible that they retracted or updated the statement.

Answer 9

This statement is misleading and inaccurate, as it is fearmongering. While the TikTok user known as Bearbaitofficial appears to have a role as a TA or educator at a college, there's no concrete evidence confirming her status as a professor. Furthermore, there's a discrepancy between the article's content and another source, which reported that the solar event reference was the largest in the past six years, rather than the largest ever recorded.