Sun may be starting next solar cycle even though it’s only halfway through current one

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox

Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Scientists have spotted the first signs of the Sun starting its next activity cycle even though it is only halfway through its current one, a discovery that could help better model solar storms.

The Sun goes through 11-year cycles during which the number of sunspots and the intensity of solar activity increase and reach a peak, bringing the highest likelihood of intense solar storms.

It is now approaching peak activity, or “solar maximum”, of its Cycle 25, called so as it is the 25th since 1755 when extensive recording of solar activity began.

While this cycle is not expected to end for another six years, scientists at the University of Birmingham have discovered the first signs of the next solar cycle.

During solar maximum, the sun flips its magnetic field and swaps its poles, which affects activity on the star’s surface, sending more solar flares hurtling towards the Earth.

Powerful solar storms at the height of the Sun’s activity can cause bright auroras even at lower altitudes.

They can also cause damage to satellites in orbit, electric power grids, and telecommunications systems.

Researchers track the sun’s cycle by measuring its internal sound waves and monitoring how it rotates.

These can be seen as a pattern of fast-moving bands – called solar torsional oscillation – that rotate and migrate towards the Sun’s equator and its poles during its 11-year cycle.

Scientists have known that the faster-rotation belts show up before the next solar cycle begins.

Researchers have found faint indications that the next solar cycle is starting based on new data revealing such rotation bands.

“If you go back one solar cycle, 11 years, on the plot, you can see something similar that seems to join up with the shape we saw in 2017. It went on to be a feature of the present solar cycle, Cycle 25,” Rachel Howe from the University of Birmingham said.

“We’re likely seeing the first traces of Cycle 26, which won’t officially start until about 2030.”

With more data, scientists hope to better understand the role played by these flows in the intricate dance of plasma and magnetic fields that drive the sun’s activity cycle.

“It’s exciting to see the first hint that the pattern will repeat again in Cycle 26, which is due to start in about six years,” Dr Howe said.