RUSENG

March 21, 2019, 10:05 UTC

New increase in solar activity. The Sun is burning off remaining fuel of the past solar cycle.

Active areas on the Sun March 21, 2019 - source of the flare activity. Image of the AIA telescope at the SDO observatory.

A sharp increase in solar activity in last twenty-four hours is observed on the space monitors those providing the information on x-ray solar radiation flux. Yesterday, 20 March and today, March 21, three of the C-class flares have been recorded. The index of the flare activity for the first time in several months has reached the yellow level (peak value of 3.5 on a 10-point scale). Two large enough active regions are also observed on the images of the Sun clearly visible in systems of the magnetic loops and in bright radiation generated by the hot plasma.

In spite of the desire to connect current processes with the beginning of the 25th new solar cycle, the study of the Sun shows that this is not the case. On the Sun, the “fuel” of the previous cycle continues to burn off. The fuel is the magnetic fields forming below the surface of the Sun and being pushed out by plasma flows with excess energy. It is this energy that is burning out in the form of flares. The configuration and location of the observed magnetic fluxes coincide with the position of the magnetic belt of the 24th cycle. A new magnetic belt, the appearance of which will mean the beginning of cycle number 25, should occur at much larger solar latitudes (closer to the poles) and have a different magnetic polarity than on currently observed active regions. For now, the new 25th cycle does not give us any signs yet indicating its near beginning.

Why the magnetic fields of cycle number 24 are still present on the Sun seven years after this cycle reached its maximum peak back in 2012, is still a mystery.

The increase in solar activity showed, among other things, the instability of the detector on the GOES-15 satellite, which is now the main apparatus recording the solar flares. With high probability in the coming days, the information on solar flares in the LPI data center will be generated on a data received from the GOES-14 satellite.