New Delhi: Despite the Sun being midway through its current solar cycle, researchers have detected the initial signs of the next 11-year solar cycle in the Sun’s internal sound waves. This finding comes from a team at the University of Birmingham, who presented their research at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting in Hull.
The Sun’s current solar cycle, known as Cycle 25, began in 2019 and is reaching its solar maximum, the period when the Sun’s magnetic field flips, causing increased surface activity such as sunspots, flares, and coronal mass ejections. These events boost electromagnetic energy towards Earth, making auroras more visible at lower altitudes. Cycle 25 is expected to continue until mid-2025, but won’t conclude for another six years.
Dr. Rachel Howe, a Helioseismology Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, and her team have identified early signs of the next solar cycle, Cycle 26, through helioseismic data. This data, gathered from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG), the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) since 1995, reveals bands of faster and slower rotating material within the Sun.
These bands, which move towards the Equator before each new solar cycle begins, exhibit a pattern that, while consistent, is not identical across Solar Cycles 23, 24, and 25. Dr. Howe, who has been monitoring these changes for 25 years, expressed excitement about the first indications of Cycle 26, which is projected to start around 2030. This discovery offers valuable insights into the dynamics of the Sun’s plasma and magnetic fields.
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