The sun is reaching solar maximum: What does this mean? What should the Earth be prepared for?

The sun is bright, shiny and full of surprises. A lot of activity is going on on the hot star. There have been three notable solar flares and more are expected. There has been an increase in sunspots on its surface. All this means that the sun is approaching a solar maximum.The next solar maximum was predicted to begin in 2025. But now new research shows that the sun may reach the peak of its current cycle in 2024, a year ahead.What is solar maximum?The sun goes through a natural solar cycle approximately every 11 years. The cycle is marked by the increase and decrease of sunspots, visible as dark blemishes on the sun’s surface, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US government agency responsible for the civil space programme and research.A magnetic field is generated by the movement of charged particles in the sun’s interior. This extends beyond the surface, creating a heliosphere, a vast region of space that is influenced by the solar wind. As the sun rotates, the magnetic field lines are tangled, leading to the formation of sunspots, which are dark, cooler regions on its surface.Also read: The sun is dying: Here’s how long it has before exhausting its fuelThe greatest number of sunspots in any given solar cycle is designated as “solar maximum”. The lowest number is “solar minimum”.But there is more to the solar cycle than just increased sunspots. In the sun’s atmosphere or corona, bright active regions appear, which are rooted in the lower sunspots. Scientists track these regions since they are often the origin of eruptions on the sun such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections, according to NASA.[caption id="attachment_12543222" align="alignnone" width="640"] This image obtained in August 2014 shows a close-up of a moderate sun flare of light. NASA/AFP[/caption]What do we know about the latest solar cycle? The current solar cycle is the 25th since the records began in 1755 and started in 2019.Now the cycle is nearing its peak. In April, the sun exploded with three major solar flares. There were 23 coronal mass ejections and a massive geomagnetic storm that struck Earth and raged for over two days, NASA informed. Solar physicists also found 96 sunspots on its surface.While official predictions by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say that the sun will reach the peak of its activity in 2025, new research led by NASA research scientist Robert Leamon and Scott McIntosh, the deputy director at US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), suggests this might happen next year.According to the finalised forecast, the current cycle is expected to reach its peak in 2024. The cycle, the team of researchers thinks, will reach about 185 monthly sunspots during its maximum and thus be somewhat milder than what the team originally forecasted. This peak intensity will place this cycle at about the average compared to the historical record, reports Space.com.The cycles vary in activity. The weakest on record has produced less than 100 sunspots and the strongest nearly 300.[caption id="attachment_12543232" align="alignnone" width="640"] Images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory show the sun at solar minimum in December 2019 and the solar maximum in April 2014. Sunspots freckle the sun during solar maximum; the dark spots are associated with solar activity.