The Solar Cycle — Why Right Now Is Special — Aurora Guide

The Sun isn't constant — it pulses through an 11-year cycle of activity, swinging between a quiet minimum and a stormy maximum. At solar maximum, sunspot counts surge, solar flares are more frequent, and geomagnetic storms — the kind that light up the sky — happen far more often.

Solar Cycle 25 peaked around 2024–2025 — one of the strongest cycles in decades. The extraordinary aurora storms of May 2024, visible across Europe, the southern US, and even parts of Mexico, happened because of this peak. We're now just past maximum, meaning activity is still high and exceptional events remain far more likely than they will be in 3–4 years.