New Delhi

Last year, the scientific community announced that the Sun will reach its dramatic peak in January 2024. In some previous months as well, we have seen the Sun having a moment with its solar flare rising up intensely every now and then. 

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Even the European Space Agency (ESA) released a video of visualisation of the Sun’s internal activity on Friday (Feb 23). The visualisation by ESA shows how the sun has changed from February 2021 to October 2023. 

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"As the sun approaches the maximum in its magnetic activity cycle, we see more brilliant explosions, dark sunspots, loops of plasma and swirls of super-hot gas," ESA officials said in a description of the newly released solar visualisation. 

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Solar activity visualisation

But what is actually happening? Notably, this is called solar maximum in geographic and scientific terms.

What is solar maximum? How can it impact Earth?

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Solar maximum is the period when the Sun experiences the greatest solar activity. It is a regular phenomenon that occurs every 11 years in the solar cycle of the Sun. Currently, we are in solar cycle 25, which is expected to peak in mid to late 2024, which is one year earlier than previous estimates. 

During solar maximum, large numbers of sunspots appear, and the solar irradiance output grows by about 0.07 per cent. Also, large solar storms are the most common during this event among many intense geomagnetic effects.

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For example, during the solar cycle 10, an event took place a few months before the solar maximum, in which the most intense geomagnetic storm was recorded in history since September 1859. 

The beginning of a solar cycle is called the solar minimum and as it reaches its peak, it is known as solar maximum. As per ESA, the Sun’s recent solar minimum started in February 2021. 

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Solar cycle 25 has been full of activity, including strong solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These powerful solar storms can affect Earth's electric power grids, GPS and satellites and, in some cases, cause radio blackouts. 

After the solar cycle reaches its peak, the Sun’s magnetic poles also flip which causes the Sun to turn calm again. 

(With inputs from agencies)