Solar activity increasing faster than predicted

About every 11 years, the Sun goes through a cycle where activity on the surface rises then falls.

Cooler portions of the Sun's surface appear as dark spots. Cool is a relative term here because these sunspots are still around 6,500º F. But these areas keep some of the heat within the surface from reaching the surface, and all that magnetically charged energy has to make it out somehow.

This can cause magnetic field lines to twist and tangle which can cause a violent release of energy better known as a solar flare, or even coronal mass ejection, launching charged particles, sometimes in Earth's direction.

Since the last Solar Cycle ended in September 2020, activity has been increasing as expected by NASA heliophysicists and NOAA space weather forecasters but at a rate greater than predicted.

Why solar activity is outpacing predictions is debated by scientists. Not only does activity vary from day to day, but also from solar cycle to solar cycle. This may just be more active cycle. Some also have suggested that this cycle actually started a few months earlier than declared, and the sunspot numbers being observed today may be a natural indicator that we are further along in the cycle.

As activity increases, larger sunspots are being observed as well, often several times larger than the Earth. Currently, sunspot number 3321 is large enough to be seen with a small solar telescope, or even with the naked eye with eclipse glasses. Sunspots 3321 and 3323 near the Sun's equator are particularly visible right now.

Unlike solar minium which is based on the absence of activity and more difficult to pinpoint as a result. solar maximum is declared when the maximum number of sunspots has been observed during the cycle.

Solar maximum, currently predicted for July 2025, is also measurable as the sun's inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself, flipping north and south poles. Stanford's Wilcox Solar Observatory has observed this occur several times through mapping of the Sun's magnetism since 1976.

Researchers are eager to record the effects this increased activity has on the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere during the total solar eclipses in April 2024.