A NASA scientist says an increased influx of solar heat can swell the Earth's upper atmosphere and make space junk fall into a lower orbit.
A research published in the latest issue of NASA's Orbital Debris Quarterly News indicates that increased solar flares can affect the Earth's thermosphere.
"The increase in solar activity causes more energy to be deposited into the atmosphere, which in turn is heated and expands," National Geographic reported NASA scientist Nicholas Johnson as saying.
"This increases atmospheric density at a given altitude, thereby increasing drag. This causes [orbiting space junk] to lose energy and fall into a lower orbit."
Events such as the recent solar storm can make the debris reenter the atmosphere where most of them are vaporized before they hit the ground. However, some pieces could survive reentry and pose threats.
"Last year there were 17 spacecraft and 8 rocket bodies which reentered in an uncontrolled manner, including two spacecraft and one rocket body from the 1960s," the NASA scientist noted.
About tens of millions of pieces of space junk are trapped in the Earth's orbit now and are circling the planet; more than a hundred metric tons of which have been destroyed in the past year.
"The more susceptible objects will fall out first, similar to flushing leaves from your house gutters," Johnson said adding that the sun's effect will last through next year but will begin to decrease soon after that.
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