NASA has taken to its blog to confirm the Sun has now reached the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, meaning we can expect a lot more activity out of our local star.
The space agency informed reporters on Tuesday, along with representatives from the Solar Cycle Prediction Panel and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), that the Sun has entered its solar maximum period, which can continue throughout next year. NASA explains that during the Sun's solar maximum, the Sun's magnetic activity is at its highest, which increases the number of sunspots that lead to solar eruptions that can and have impacted Earth.
Solar activity can affect critical infrastructure on Earth, such as communications systems, satellites, and power grids, which can all be disrupted during intense geomagnetic storms caused by solar blasts. On the positive side, increased solar activity means the frequency of auroras have increased. An example of the Sun's 11-year solar cycle paying off in the form of impressive auroras only occurred in May this year when Earth was hit with a barrage of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or blasts of charged particles that created the strongest geomagnetic storm Earth has experienced in the last two decades.
NASA writes, "and possibly among the strongest displays of auroras on record in the past 500 years."
"During solar maximum, the number of sunspots, and therefore, the amount of solar activity, increases. This increase in activity provides an exciting opportunity to learn about our closest star - but also causes real effects at Earth and throughout our solar system," said Jamie Favors, director, Space Weather Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington
"This announcement doesn't mean that this is the peak of solar activity we'll see this solar cycle. While the Sun has reached the solar maximum period, the month that solar activity peaks on the Sun will not be identified for months or years," said Elsayed Talaat, director of space weather operations at NOAA