The Sun’s activity cycle is reaching its peak early: Knowing why could help us unlock the secrets of our star

Subject :Science and Tech

Section: SPACE TECHNOLOGY

Solar activity:

The Sun shows extensive variation and activity.
Bright explosions called flares regularly cause huge outbreaks of radiation. Darker, cooler areas called sunspots emerge, move, change shape and vanish. The Sun also releases material into space in powerful eruptions, called solar particle events.
- Solar particle events can disable satellites and disrupt electrical grids. Activity from the Sun that affects our planet is often referred to as “space weather”.
This solar activity varies with time and peaks every 11 years — and the next high point has been forecast for July 2025.
But researchers have predicted that this “solar maximum” will arrive earlier than expected.

Predicting solar activity:

NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are developing various methods to predict solar activity.
An alternative forecast has been published by a team led by Nasa scientist Robert Leamon and Scott McIntosh that says the cycle’s peak will occur a year earlier in mid-late 2024 and sunspot numbers will be twice the official prediction — an indication of activity.
This prediction is done by looking at the actual sunspots and their magnetic properties.
- When a solar cycle ends, it is not instantaneous. It is a gentle transition where fewer sunspots appear with magnetic properties linked to the old cycle and more appear with properties linked to the new cycle.

Solar activities cause:

Auroras in northern and southern poles of earth
It can cause power surges in the long transmission lines used in electrical grids.
It can cause a change of particle density in the high atmosphere.
It can also lead to slight heating of our outer atmosphere, making it extend further into space. This increases the thickness of the atmosphere for satellites in low Earth orbit.
Solar storms could strike the earth’s atmosphere causing electrical problems on satellites.

Source: DTE