Chuck Cagara
Subscriber Chuck Cagara took a photo of the sun [on Wednesday, May 8]. It revealed a large region of sunspot activity, giving rise to the possibility that ‘Solar Max’ is now fully underway.
This from a recent report on the web: “The sun will reach the peak of its current activity cycle in 2024, one year earlier than previous estimates, according to experts at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The revised prediction now places Solar Cycle 25’s peak of activity known as “solar maximum” between January and October 2024 according to a NOAA statement. The peak will be earlier, stronger and last longer than estimates made in 2019.”
The NASA black and white photo shows the relative sizes of Earth and Jupiter in the lower right corner, illustrating just how large sunspots can be.
This increased activity may help explain the Solar Storm that just occurred (strongest in 20 years) and allowed for the Aurora Borealis to be seen from right here in Santa Barbara.
There’s no “may help” about it. Increased solar activity leads directly to more auroral activity.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/what-is-an-aurora-and-why-do-they-come-in-different-shapes-and-colors/
Auroras are the result of disturbances in the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by the solar wind. Major disturbances result from enhancements in the speed of the solar wind from coronal holes and coronal mass ejections. These disturbances alter the trajectories of charged particles in the magnetospheric plasma. These particles, mainly electrons and protons, precipitate into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere). The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emit light of varying colour and complexity. The form of the aurora, occurring within bands around both polar regions, is also dependent on the amount of acceleration imparted to the precipitating particles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora