Explainer: What is the solar cycle?

By KASPERA

Last updated: April 8, 2024

1 Min Read

a reddish image of the sun is mottled with bright yellowish-white regions

On January 10, 2023, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured flashes from an X-class solar flare (10 o’clock on image). X is the most intense type of solar flare. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

A different type of burst known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME, is an explosion at the sun’s surface. CMEs hurl charged particles out into space. Their material can take one to three days to reach Earth. Like solar flares, CMEs are more common closer to solar maximum. But they can occur even during the sun’s supposedly quiet periods.

Tracking the solar cycle is important because flares and CMEs play a role in

The sun is the closest star to Earth. That gives all Earthlings, especially astronomers, a front-row seat to its activities. One of the most striking features of the sun’s activity …read more

Source:: Science Explores

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