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Explanation: The surface of our Sun is constantly changing. Some years it is quiet, showing relatively few sunspots and active regions. Other years it is churning, showing many sunspots and throwing frequent Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and flares. Reacting to magnetism, our Sun's surface goes through periods of relative calm, called Solar Minimum and relative unrest, called Solar Maximum, every 11 years. The featured video shows on the left a month in late 2019 when the Sun was near Solar Minimum, while on the right a month in 2014 when near Solar Maximum. The video was taken by NASA's Solar...

Solar Cycle 25 is heating up faster than expected. The latest sign may be found in sunspot counts from July 2021. Continuing a trend that started last year, they overperform the official forecast. Issued by the NOAA/NASA Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel in 2019, the official forecast calls for Solar Cycle 25 to peak in July 2025. However, a better fit to current data shows Solar Cycle 25 peaking in October 2024. This is just outside the 8-month error bars of the Panel's forecast. July 2021 was a remarkable month. Solar Cycle 25 crossed multiple thresholds, including its first X-flare...

That fiery ball in space does settle down every 11 years or so. It’s called the solar minimum, and the Space Weather Prediction Center indicates that this phase of low sunspot activity will continue for a few more years. During a solar minimum, the sun has very few sunspots on its surface, which some speculate could affect the earth’s weather. In contrast, a solar maximum has more sunspots on its surface and solar activity is high. “Usually a solar minimum lasts about a year or so, but then sometimes it can last for decades or even longer,” said Prof. Jason...

“Something unexpected” is happening on the Sun, NASA has warned. This year was supposed to be the year of “solar maximum,” the peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle. But … solar activity is relatively low. “Sunspot numbers are well below their values from 2011, and strong solar flares have been infrequent,” the space agency says. … Experts have been baffled by the apparent lack of activity—with many wondering if NASA simply got it wrong. However, Solar physicist Dean Pesnell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center believes he has a different explanation. “This is solar maximum,” he says. “But it looks...

Sometimes a problem is so big, one country cannot handle it alone. That's the message scientists are delivering at today's International Living with a Star (ILWS) meeting in Bremen, Germany, and representatives from more than 25 of the world's most technologically-advanced nations have gathered to hear what they have to say. "The problem is solar storms—figuring out how to predict them and stay safe from their effects," says ILWS Chairperson Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters. "We need to make progress on this before the next solar maximum arrives around 2013." The sun and Earth are separated by 93 million miles...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 23 A Twisted Solar Eruptive Prominence Credit: SOHO Consortium, EIT, ESA, NASA Explanation: A huge eruptive prominence is seen moving out from our Sun in this condensed half-hour time-lapse sequence. Ten Earths could easily fit in the "claw" of this seemingly solar monster. This large prominence, though, is significant not only for its size, but its shape. The twisted figure eight shape indicates that a complex...