- This cycle would extend until 2025, which would give rise to intense solar flares and geomagnetic storms | Main photo: The Vanguard
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the International Solar Cycle Prediction Panel announced that since October 15, the Sun reached its maximum solar period.
The official NASA website reported that the natural solar cycle, instead of decreasing, will extend at least until 2025. This phenomenon occurs when the Sun transitions from a phase of low magnetic activity to one of greater intensity.
The international agency indicates that approximately every 11 years, at the peak of this cycle, the Sun’s magnetic poles reverse, a process that, if it occurred on Earth, would be equivalent to the North and South poles exchanging positions every decade.
“The Sun goes from a calm state to an active and stormy state,” can be read on the published report by NASA.
NASA and NOAA monitor sunspots to evaluate the development of the solar cycle and its associated phenomena. These spots, according to NASA, are cooler areas on the Sun’s surface, created by the concentration of magnetic field lines.
“During solar maximum, the number of spots and solar activity increase. This provides a valuable opportunity to study the star, although it also causes tangible effects on Earth and the Solar System,” said Jamie Favors, director of the Space Weather Program at NASA headquarters in Washington (United States).
Last solar maximum
The World Data Center for Sunspot Index and Long-Term Solar Observations (SILSO) documented that the last phenomenon occurred in April 2014.
What are the consequences of a solar maximum?
International organizations that monitor these phenomena indicate that solar activity has a significant impact on the environment known as space weather, affecting both satellites and astronauts and communication, navigation (radio and GPS) systems and electrical networks in the space. Land.
According to the information, in recent months, the intensification of this activity has increased the visibility of the auroras and affected satellites and ground infrastructure.
The incidence of solar storms
NASA reported that in May 2024 a series of intense solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields toward Earth, causing the geomagnetic storm strongest in the last two decades. In addition, one of the most intense aurora displays in the last 500 years was recorded.
NASA defines solar flares
as “a cannon flash, a burst of light that reaches Earth in a matter of minutes and also carries high-energy particles that interact with our atmosphere”
An important fact is that, although the Sun has entered its phase of greatest activity, it is not possible to immediately determine the exact point at which the maximum solar activity will be reached. This requires months or even years of observation, since solar activity can vary over time.
“Scientists anticipate that the maximum phase will last another year or so before the Sun enters the decline phase, which leads back to solar minimum,” the NASA press release reports.
NOAA anticipates more solar and geomagnetic storms during the current phase of solar maximum, which will provide opportunities to observe auroras in the coming months and could cause impacts on technology. Additionally, although less common, scientists also often detect major storms during the waning phase of the solar cycle.
Likewise, both organizations are preparing to continue advancing in space weather research and prediction. In December 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission will come closer to the Sun than ever before, surpassing its own record as the closest human-made object to our star.
This will be the first of three planned approaches to that distance, allowing scientists to study space weather directly at its source.
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