Sun to reach Solar Maximum by 2025, likely to cause complete global internet outage

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Last Updated14/07/2023

The Sun is set to reach the Solar Maximum in the next two years of the current solar cycle.
During solar maximum, the heightened activity in the Sun can potentially disrupt the large-scale infrastructure of communication and even cause an “internet apocalypse”.

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, or photosphere.
The greatest number of sunspots in any given solar cycle is designated as "solar maximum."
- The lowest number is "solar minimum."
Impacts
- This increased solar activity can cause extreme space weather events, including solar flares and eruptions.
- It can also disrupt radio communications and the power grid and have serious health consequences for astronauts.

The solar cycle is the cycle that the Sun’s magnetic field goes through approximately every 11 years.
- The Sun is a huge ball of electrically-charged hot gas.
- This charged gas movement generates a powerful magnetic field.
- Every 11 years or so, the Sun's magnetic field completely flips.
  - The Sun's north and south poles switch places.
The solar cycle affects activity on the surface of the Sun, such as sunspots which are caused by the Sun's magnetic fields.
As the magnetic fields change, so does the amount of activity on the Sun's surface.
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 cycle is the solar maximum, or when the Sun has the most sunspots.
As the cycle ends, it fades back to the solar minimum and then a new cycle begins.