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    How the sun goes to ‘sleep’ could reveal future space weather when it wakes

    July 21, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Sunspots are regions of intense magnetic activity on the Sun's surface. The number of sunspots rises and falls over the Sun's approximately 11-year activity cycle and is one of the main ways astronomers track and predict solar activity.
    Sunspots are regions of intense magnetic activity on the Sun’s surface. The number of sunspots rises and falls over the Sun’s approximately 11-year activity cycle and is one of the main ways astronomers track and predict solar activity.
    Credit NASA/SDO Licence type Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

    Scientists have developed a new way to predict the strength of the sun’s next activity cycle up to seven years before it reaches its peak.

    The new method uses the number of sunspots at a newly identified “switchoff” point in the solar cycle, when the sun’s most extreme space weather suddenly comes to an end. Using this approach, researchers have made an early prediction for the strength of Solar Cycle 26.

    A very early prediction shows a moderate Cycle 26 with a sunspot number of around 100–120, s...

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