Solar Cycle Progression
Use the buttons above each plot to return to the default zoom showing the current cycle or to show the entire available data set. There is also an option to toggle the solar cycle numbering on/off.
The list of solar cycles documents these observed cycles in chronological order, numbered from Cycle 1—beginning at solar minimum in February 1755—to the current Cycle 25, which started at minimum...
Use the buttons above each plot to return to the default zoom showing the current cycle or to show the entire available data set. There is also an option to toggle the solar cycle numbering on/off.
We now know that the Sun is in a perpetual state of change: its surface is a seething, bubbling cauldron of hot gas. Areas that are darker and cooler than the rest of the surface come and go. Vast plumes of
The graph below shows you the number of C, M and X-class solar flares that were produced during past month together with the sunspot number of each day. This gives you an idea of the solar activity
A solar cycle is an approximately 11-year periodic variation in the Sun''s magnetic activity, primarily observed through fluctuations in the number of sunspots on its photosphere, which rise from a
The solar cycle is divided into two main phases: solar maximum and solar minimum. During solar maximum, the Sun is more active, with increased sunspot activity and solar flares.
Because the solar cycle reflects magnetic activity, various magnetically driven solar phenomena follow the solar cycle, including sunspots, faculae/plage, network, and coronal mass ejections.
It is possible to see the whole of Solar Cycles 23 and 24, and the first half of Cycle 25. For each cycle, the band of faster rotation starts well before the magnetic activity for that cycle.
The beginning of a solar cycle is a solar minimum, or when the Sun has the least sunspots. Over time, solar activity—and the number of sunspots—increases. The middle of the solar
There have been 24 complete solar cycles since astronomers began numbering them in the eighteenth century based on telescopic observations of sunspots. We are now in Solar Cycle 25,
OverviewPhenomenaDefinitionObservational historyCycle historyPatternsEffectsSolar dynamo
Because the solar cycle reflects magnetic activity, various magnetically driven solar phenomena follow the solar cycle, including sunspots, faculae/plage, network, and coronal mass ejections. The Sun''s apparent surface, the photosphere, radiates more actively when there are more sunspots. Satellite monitoring of solar luminosity revealed a direct relationship b