The 24th Solar Cycle Officially Began

On December 11 last year, the SOHO spacecraft observed a small magnetic knot on the surface of the Sun. However, no visible sunspots have been detected lately, spots that are usually associated with the beginning of a new solar cycle. Although the sunspots were missing, scientists rushed to predict that the 24th solar cycle will shortly begin. No sooner said and done, as The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced, on Friday, that the first sunspot had appeared in the northern hemisphere of the Sun.

During the solar cycles the sunspots rise and fall; however, the appearance spotted last week mostly indicates a possible increase in solar activity in the next few months. Sunspots are triggered by massive changes in the polarity of the magnetic field generated on the surface of the Sun, that also results in mass ejections in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which are carried out in the remote regions of the solar system by solar winds.

As they travel towards the outer regions of the solar system, thus towards the Earth as well, our planet receives an increased level of radiation, mostly consisting of bursts of electrically charged particles that can disrupt electrical power grids and communications.

Although the length of a solar cycle may vary somewhere between 9 to 14 years, most of the scientific community currently accept the 11 year solar cycle. The peak of the solar activity during the 24th cycle, is thought to take place somewhere in the years 2011 or 2012.

Conrad C. Lautenbacher, administrator of NOAA argues that our ever growing dependency of high complexity electronic systems for our daily activities are threatened by electromagnetic pulses generated during violent magnetic storms. For example, in 1989, during a massive mass ejection from the Sun's surface, a large part of Canada and the U.S. suffered a power loss for more than nine hours. Again, in 1998, in a similar chain of events, the satellite Galaxy 4 was left nonoperational, causing a wide communication breakup.

An evaluation of the solar activity status made in April last year predicted that the 24th solar cycle will most probably begin in March 2008, with an error of plus/minus six months. Nevertheless, the evaluation team couldn't decide whether the next solar cycle will present a strong or weak activity.