Solar maximum or solar max is the period of greatest solar activity in the solar cycle of the sun. During solar maxima, large numbers of sunspots appear.[1]
A solar maximum is the period when the sun's magnetic field lines are the most distorted due to the magnetic field on the solar equator rotating at a slightly faster pace than at the solar poles. The solar cycle takes an average of about 11 years to go from one solar maximum to the next, with an observed variation in duration of 9 to 14 years for any given solar cycle.
For more detailed explanation of solar cycles, see Solar variation.
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The last solar maximum was in 2000. The next solar maximum is currently predicted to occur in February 2013 and to be one of the weakest cycles since 1928.[2]
The unreliability of solar maxima predictions is demonstrated in that NASA had previously predicted the solar maximum for 2010/2011 and possibly to occur as late as 2012. Previously, on March 10, 2006, NASA researchers had announced that the next solar maximum would be the strongest since the historic maximum in 1859 in which the northern lights could be seen as far south as Rome, approximately 42° north of the equator, [3] by 2011, this appeared to be incorrect. In fact, the solar maximum will be a fairly weak one. [4]
There is an IMAX documentary about solar maxima called Solarmax.
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