Earth heading towards solar maximum

The sun has officially reached its solar maximum period, increasing the likelihood of more displays of the northern lights and potential infrastructure disruptions, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, indicating the solar maximum could continue for the next year.

The sun goes through an 11-year cycle transitioning between low and high magnetic activity culminating with the flipping of the sun’s magnetic poles.

Scientists use sunspots to predict the solar cycle and solar activity. That activity leads to space weather in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections that launch clouds of charged particles toward Earth, which in May created the strongest geomagnetic storm on Earth in two decades.

Geomagnetic storms occur fairly often. Minor ones happen multiple times per year. The severity of a storm depends on how strong the solar event was that caused it. Larger, more intense storms are less common but can happen every few years.