If you've wondered why words like sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections so liberally littered news headlines practically every other day in 2022, you're not alone.

In the past year, we did witness a marked rise in the Sun's activity. And this prominent display of its ire can be attributed to the fact that we are inching closer to the peak of its solar cycle — an 11-year period during which the Sun's magnetic field does a 180 flip, causing its north and south poles to switch places. Weather Station Manufacturers

We are currently about two years into what astronomers call solar cycle 25. This cycle, expected to peak in the year 2025, is likely to be stronger than its predecessor, but still feebler than average.

The progression of the latest trend line given by the Space Weather Prediction Centre suggests that the ongoing cycle's intensity could very well be higher than expected. This apparent intensity has resulted from the cycle beginning around six months earlier than scientists had anticipated.

Recent trends point to the Sun sporting roughly 125 sunspots when cycle 25 peaks — that's more than the 115 visible sunspots at cycle 24, but still much lower than the 180 of cycle 23, which peaked in March 2000 and was about middling in recorded history.

Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun because they are cooler than the surrounding areas. However, the temperature of a sunspot is still very hot at around 6,500°F. The only reason for the difference in temperature from the neighbouring areas is that the magnetic fields in those areas are so strong that they keep some of the heat within the Sun from reaching the surface.

But all of this sounds harmless, right? So how is it that these seemingly innocuous sunspots result in solar activity that could even touch Earth?

Well, when the magnetic field lines near sunspots tangle, cross or reorganise, it results in a solar flare. Solar flares usually release a ton of radiation into space. In fact, if such a flare is intense enough, its radiation can also impact radio communications here on Earth — which is located roughly 150 million kilometres away from the Sun.

Solar flares can sometimes be accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME). These CMEs are enormous bubbles of radiation and solar particles that explode into space at very high speeds when the Sun's magnetic field lines suddenly reorganise.

As anxiety-inducing as these terms are, solar activity isn't nearly as scary as it seems.

According to NASA, solar flares impact Earth only when they occur on the side of the Sun facing our planet. CMEs can erupt anywhere and then continue in that direction, charging right through the solar wind. It is only when the cloud is aimed at Earth will the CME hit our world and cause impacts.

When a CME disturbs the outer part of the Earth's magnetic field, it generates associated electric currents in the near-Earth space environment. This, in turn, generates additional magnetic field variations, resulting in what we call a geomagnetic storm.

Such storms are responsible for the northern lights or auroras and disrupting radio communications. Extreme eruptions can even affect electricity grids and satellite electronics, limiting their lifetime.

Furthermore, the radiation can be dangerous for astronauts working on the International Space Station.

This is why scientists are working so hard to predict an active time in the solar cycle — so satellites can be put into safe mode, and astronauts can delay their spacewalks. However, with only one peak every 11 years, it's harder for scientists to study solar cycles.

If the current trends are any indication, 2023 is going to be even more eventful on the space weather front. But worry not, The Weather Channel India will continue to keep you updated about the Sun's tantrums even as we step into the new year.

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