The solar cycle has passed its peak, according to data collected by
astronomers at the US National Solar Observatory on Kitt Peak, Arizona, and
analysed by David Hathaway at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Solar
activity and the number of sunspots should now begin to decline.
For the past 11 years, the Sun’s north magnetic pole has been in the northern
hemisphere. But the poles reverse during each solar cycle, and the new NASA data
suggests the north magnetic pole has now moved into the Sun’s southern
hemisphere.
