Northern Lights 2024

The year 2024 saw the Sun approaching its solar maximum, a time when the Sun becomes increasingly more active before the end of its 11 year activity cycle. The end of the Sun’s cycle is marked by the flipping of its magnetic poles resulting in much less solar activity. Solar activity then slowly increases again over an 11 year period until the next solar maximum.

Signs of increased solar activity include an increase in the number of sun spots as well as mass coronal ejections that release large quantities of charged particles from the Sun’s surface. These charged particles are funnelled toward Earth’s poles by its magnetic field creating spectacular aurora or Northern Lights (in the northern hemisphere) like the ones pictured above.