Back in 2017, NASA reported the sun will witness the solar minimum of 24th Solar Cycle which ended on 30th April 2020. And on May 29, 2020, NASA reported that the sun had come out of the ‘minima’ phase. It also reported that a family of sunspots was sported which is the biggest sunspot since October 2017.
The event marked the beginning of the 25th Solar Cycle and sent our sun into a new solar cycle.
The solar cycle is based on the sun’s magnetic field, which flips around every 11 years, with its north and south magnetic poles switching places. We recently witnessed the solar minimum of 24th Solar Cycle and now we are going into 25th Solar Cycle.
Solar minimum and solar maximum are two extreme phases of the activity in the sun. These are observed on the basis of the solar cycle. In a solar minimum, there is least solar activity on the sun with a lesser number of sunspotsㅡ darker area in the sun which are formed due to concentration of electric flux. These occur during the process wherein the north and the south magnetic poles of the sun switch their positions by 180 degrees, doing a complete overturn. On the other hand, at solar maxima, the sun is most active and witness a number of sunspots with bursts of solar. During this period, the sun’s magnetic field lines are the most distorted due to the magnetic field on the solar equator rotating at a slightly faster pace than at the solar poles.
Impact of Solar Cycle on Earth: Nasa, in its latest explanation on the solar cycle of the sun, has cleared-off any direct impact on the earth’s atmosphere. They have found no evidence on change in temperature, rainfall or wind pattern due to solar minima or solar maxima.
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