NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | NASA, NOAA Announce That the Sun Has Reached the Solar Maximum Period

In a teleconference with reporters on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 , representatives from NASA , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency ( NOAA ), and the Solar Cycle Prediction Panel announced the Sun has reached its solar maximum period.

The solar cycle is the natural cycle of the Sun as it transitions between low and high activity.

Roughly every 11 years , at the height of the solar cycle, the Sun ’s magnetic poles flip — on Earth , that’d be like the North and South Poles swapping places every decade — and the Sun transitions from sluggish to active and stormy.

When the Sun is most active, space weather events become more frequent.

This graphic shows the Heliophysics Division fleet as of July 2024 .

Numbers in parentheses indicate how many spacecraft the mission currently includes.

This page was last updated on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 11:21 AM EDT .

Please give credit for this item to: NASA 's Goddard Space Flight Center - Producer - Beth Anthony (eMITS) - Writers.