Solar Cycle 25 Is Here. NASA, NOAA Scientists Explain What That Means
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Tuesday, September 15, 2020
The Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel, an international group of experts co-sponsored by NASA and NOAA, announced that solar minimum occurred in December 2019 , marking the start of a new solar cycle.
Key Points:
- The Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel, an international group of experts co-sponsored by NASA and NOAA, announced that solar minimum occurred in December 2019 , marking the start of a new solar cycle.
- Scientists use sunspots to track solar cycle progress ; the dark blotches on the Sun are associated with solar activity, often as the origins for giant explosions such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections which can spew light, energy, and solar material into space.
- Doug Biesecker, panel co-chair and solar physicist at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center( SWPC ) in Boulder, Colorado, said Solar Cycle 25 is anticipated to be as strong as the last solar cycle, which was a below-average cycle, but not without risk.
- "Just because it's a below-average solar cycle, doesn't mean there is no risk of extreme space weather," Biesecker said.