The magnetic field of the Sun flips during each solar cycle, with the flip occurring when the solar cycle is near its maximum. Over the period of a solar cycle, levels of solar radiation and ejection of solar material, the number and size of sunspots, solar flares, and coronal loops all exhibit a synchronized fluctuation from a period of minimum activity to a period of a maximum activity back to a period of minimum activity. The solar cycle, also known as the solar magnetic activity cycle, sunspot cycle, or Schwabe cycle, is a nearly periodic 11-year change in the Sun's activity measured in terms of variations in the number of observed sunspots on the Sun's surface. The predicted and observed size made this the smallest sunspot cycle since cycle 14 which had a maximum of 64.2 in February of 1906." Many cycles are double peaked but this is the first in which the second peak in sunspot number was larger than the first. The smoothed sunspot number rose again towards this second peak over the last five months of 2016 and surpassed the level of the first peak (66.9 in February 2012). The smoothed sunspot number reached 68.9 in August 2013 so the official maximum was at least that high. ![]() 400 year sunspot history, including the Maunder Minimum "The prediction for solar cycle 24 gave a smoothed sunspot number maximum of about 69 in the late Summer of 2013. For the 28-year cycle of the calendar, see Solar cycle (calendar).
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