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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element">FYI</div>
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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"><a
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href="https://www.weather.gov/news/201509-solar-cycle">weather.gov</a>
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<h1 class="reader-title">Hello Solar Cycle 25</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">US Department of Commerce,
NOAA, National Weather Service</div>
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<td><a
href="https://www.weather.gov/images/news/201409-Solar-minimum.png"><img
alt=""
src="https://www.weather.gov/images/news/201409-Solar-minimum.png"
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<p><span><em>Solar minimum - the period when the
sun is least active - as seen by the Solar
Ultraviolet Imager aboard GOES-East on
Dec. 15, 2019. We are now in Solar Cycle
25. Credit: NOAA.</em></span></p>
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<td><a
href="https://www.weather.gov/images/news/201409-NOAA-Space-Weather.jpg"><img
alt=""
src="https://www.weather.gov/images/news/201409-NOAA-Space-Weather.jpg"
width="375" height="332"></a></td>
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<p><span><em>Artist’s rendering of NOAA’s Space
Weather Follow-On L-1 observatory. Credit:
NOAA</em></span></p>
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<p><span><span><strong>Analysis determines we are in Solar
Cycle 25</strong></span></span></p>
<p>September 15, 2020 - The solar minimum between Solar
Cycle 24 and 25 - the period when the sun is least
active - happened in December 2019, when the 13-month
smoothed sunspot number fell to 1.8, according to the
Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel, co-chaired by NOAA and
NASA. We are now in Solar Cycle 25 with peak sunspot
activity expected in 2025, the panel said.</p>
<p>Solar Cycle 24 was average in length, at 11 years, and
had the 4th-smallest intensity since regular record
keeping began with Solar Cycle 1 in 1755. It was also
the weakest cycle in 100 years. Solar maximum occurred
in April 2014 with sunspots peaking at 114 for the solar
cycle, well below average, which is 179.</p>
<p>Solar Cycle 24’s progression was unusual. The Sun’s
Northern Hemisphere led the sunspot cycle, peaking over
two years ahead of the Southern Hemisphere sunspot peak.
This resulted in solar maximum having fewer sunspots
than if the two hemispheres were in phase.</p>
<p><strong><em>Solar Cycle 25</em></strong><br>
For the past eight months, activity on the sun has
steadily increased, indicating we transitioned to Solar
Cycle 25. <a
href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/solar-cycle-25-forecast-update?fbclid=IwAR0II6o75ehEkIfRW-QP4F4w1ljXx89KsQrKdhEGeJvnIm6GviIFiEjdH34">Solar
Cycle 25 is forecast to be a fairly weak cycle,</a>
the same strength as cycle 24. Solar maximum is expected
in July 2025, with a peak of 115 sunspots.</p>
<p>“How quickly solar activity rises is an indicator on
how strong the solar cycle will be,” said Doug
Biesecker, Ph.D., panel co-chair and a solar physicist
at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “Although
we’ve seen a steady increase in sunspot activity this
year, it is slow.”</p>
<p>The panel has high confidence that Solar Cycle 25 will
break the trend of weakening solar activity seen over
the past four cycles. “We predict the decline in solar
cycle amplitude, seen from cycles 21 through 24, has
come to an end,” said Lisa Upton, Ph.D., panel co-chair
and solar physicist with Space Systems Research Corp.
“There is no indication we are approaching a
Maunder-type minimum in solar activity.”</p>
<p>“While we are not predicting a particularly active
Solar Cycle 25, violent eruptions from the Sun can occur
at any time,” Biesecker added.</p>
<p>Solar cycle prediction gives a rough idea of the
frequency of <a
href="https://www.noaa.gov/explainers/space-weather-storms-from-sun">space
weather</a> storms of all types, from <a
href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/solar-flares-radio-blackouts">radio
blackouts</a> to <a
href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/geomagnetic-storms">geomagnetic
storms</a> and <a
href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/solar-radiation-storm">solar
radiation storms</a>. It is used by many industries to
gauge the potential impact of space weather in the
coming years.</p>
<p><strong><em>New satellites will provide enhanced
observations of the Sun</em></strong><br>
In 2024, before the peak of sunspot activity in Solar
Cycle 25, NOAA is slated to launch a new spacecraft
dedicated to operational space weather forecasting. <a
href="https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/content/noaa-readies-addition-its-space-weather-toolkit">NOAA’s
Space Weather Follow-On L-1 observatory</a> will be
equipped with instruments that sample the solar wind,
provide imagery of coronal mass ejections, and monitor
other extreme activity from the Sun in finer detail than
before. NOAA’s next Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) is also scheduled to
launch in 2024. GOES-U will carry three solar monitoring
instruments, including the first <a
href="https://www.goes-r.gov/spacesegment/CCOR.html">compact
coronagraph</a>, which will help detect coronal mass
ejections. Enhanced observations of the Sun from these
satellites will help improve space weather forecasting.</p>
<p>The Solar Cycle Prediction Panel forecasts the number
of sunspots expected for solar maximum, along with the
timing of the peak and minimum solar activity levels for
the cycle. It is comprised of scientists representing
NOAA, NASA, the International Space Environment
Services, and other U.S. and international scientists.</p>
<p>For the latest space weather forecast, visit NOAA’s
Space Weather Prediction Center, the nation’s authority
for space weather alerts, watches, warnings, and
advisories at <a href="https://www.spaceweather.gov/"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://www.spaceweather.gov/</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Resources:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a
href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013700/a013714/SolarCycle25telecon.mp3">Audio
recording of the Solar Cycle 25 media teleconference</a></li>
<li><a
href="https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/content/media-primer-solar-cycle-and-space-weather">More
about solar minimum</a></li>
<li><a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JncTCE2NWgc">An
introduction to space weather and the Space Weather
Prediction Center</a></li>
<li><a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/solarcycle25/">Solar
Cycle 25 blog </a></li>
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