Roughly every 11 years, the
Sun's magnetic field
completely flips.
This means the Sun's
north and south magnetic
poles switch places.
Around the time of this flip
solar activity
gradually ramps up.
The Sun will have
more sunspots
and solar eruptions
like solar flares
and coronal mass ejections.
The peak of this activity
is known as solar maximum.
Solar maximum marks
the halfway point of
the solar cycle,
and usually means a year
or two of high solar activity.
During this time,
we might see more severe
geomagnetic storms
at Earth,
which trigger aurora
but also threaten
our communications,
satellites, and power grids.
NASA scientists continue
to study the solar cycle
so we can better understand
solar activity
to protect our technology
in space and on Earth.