Solar cycle

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This article is about the sunspot cycle. For the 28-year cycle of the Julian calendar,
see Solar cycle (calendar).

400 year sunspot history, including the Maunder Minimum

"The current prediction for Sunspot Cycle 24 gives a smoothed sunspot number maximum of about 69 in the late Summer of 2013. The smoothed sunspot number

reached 68.9 in August 2013 so the official maximum will be at least this high. The smoothed sunspot number has been rising again towards this second peak

over the last five months and has now surpassed the level of the first peak (66.9 in February 2012). Many cycles are double peaked but this is the first in which the

second peak in sunspot number was larger than the first. We are currently over five years into Cycle 24. The current predicted and observed size makes this the

smallest sunspot cycle since Cycle 14 which had a maximum of 64.2 in February of 1906." [1]

The solar cycle or solar magnetic activity 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 solar surface. Sunspots have been observed since the early 17th century and the
sunspot time series is the longest, continuously observed (recorded) time series of any
natural phenomena. Accompanying the 11 year quasi-periodicity in sunspots, the large-
scale dipolar (north-south) magnetic field component of the Sun also flips every 11
 years, however, the peak in the dipolar field lags the peak in the sunspot number, with
the former occurring at the minimum between two cycles. 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 active to quiet to active again, with a
period of 11 years. This cycle has been observed for centuries by changes in the Sun's
appearance and by terrestrial phenomena such as auroras. Solar activity, driven both
by the sunspot cycle and transient aperiodic processes govern the environment of the
Solar System planets by creating space weather and impact space- and ground-based
technologies as well as the Earth's atmosphere and also possibly climate fluctuations on
scales of centuries and longer.
Understanding and predicting the sunspot cycle remains one of the grand challenges in
astrophysics with major ramifications for space science and the understanding of
magnetohydrodynamic phenomena elsewhere in the Universe.

Evolution of magnetism on the Sun.

Contents

 1Definition
 2Observational history
 3Cycle history
o 3.1Recent cycles
 3.1.1Cycle 25
 3.1.2Cycle 24
 3.1.3Cycle 23
 4Phenomena
o 4.1Sunspots
o 4.2Coronal mass ejection
 5Patterns
o 5.1Hypothesized cycles
 6Solar magnetic field
 7Effects
o 7.1Solar
 7.1.1Surface magnetism
o 7.2Space
 7.2.1Spacecraft
 7.2.2Galactic cosmic ray flux
o 7.3Atmospheric
 7.3.1Solar irradiance
 7.3.2Short-wavelength radiation
 7.3.3Solar radio flux
 7.3.4Clouds
o 7.4Terrestrial
 7.4.1Organisms
 7.4.2Radio communication
 7.4.3Climate
 8Solar dynamo
 9Speculated influence of the planets
 10See also
 11References
o 11.1General references
 12External links
Definition[edit]
Solar cycles have an average duration of about 11 years. Solar maximum and solar
minimum refer to periods of maximum and minimum sunspot counts. Cycles span from
one minimum to the next.

Observational history[edit]
Main article: History of solar observation

Samuel Heinrich Schwabe (1789–1875). German astronomer, discovered the solar cycle through extended observations of sunspots

Rudolf Wolf (1816–1893), Swiss astronomer, carried out historical reconstruction of solar activity back to the seventeenth century

Sunspots were first systematically observed by Galileo Galilei, Christoph Scheiner and
contemporaries from around 1609. The solar cycle was discovered in 1843 by Samuel
Heinrich Schwabe, who after 17 years of observations noticed a periodic variation in the
average number of sunspots.  Schwabe was however preceded by Christian
[2]

Horrebow who in 1775 wrote: "it appears that after the course of a certain number of
years, the appearance of the Sun repeats itself with respect to the number and size of
the spots" based on his observations of the sun from 1761 and onwards from the
observatory Rundetaarn in Copenhagen.  Rudolf Wolf compiled and studied these and
[3]

other observations, reconstructing the cycle back to 1745, eventually pushing these
reconstructions to the earliest observations of sunspots by Galileo and contemporaries
in the early seventeenth century.
Following Wolf's numbering scheme, the 1755–1766 cycle is traditionally numbered "1".
Wolf created a standard sunspot number index, the Wolf index, which continues to be
used today.
The period between 1645 and 1715, a time of few sunspots,  is known as the Maunder [4]

minimum, after Edward Walter Maunder, who extensively researched this peculiar

event, first noted by Gustav Spörer.
In the second half of the nineteenth century Richard Carrington and Spörer
independently noted the phenomena of sunspots appearing at different solar latitudes at
different parts of the cycle.
The cycle's physical basis was elucidated by George Ellery Hale and collaborators, who
in 1908 showed that sunspots were strongly magnetized (the first detection of magnetic
fields beyond the Earth). In 1919 they showed that the magnetic polarity of sunspot
pairs:

 Is constant throughout a cycle;

 Is opposite across the equator throughout a cycle;
 Reverses itself from one cycle to the next.
Hale's observations revealed that the complete magnetic cycle spans two solar cycles,
or 22 years, before returning to its original state (including polarity). Because nearly all
manifestations are insensitive to polarity, the "11-year solar cycle" remains the focus of
research; however, the two halves of the 22-year cycle are typically not identical: the
11-year cycles usually alternate between higher and lower sums of Wolf's sunspot
numbers (the Gnevyshev-Ohl rule). [5]

In 1961 the father-and-son team of Harold and Horace Babcock established that the

solar cycle is a spatiotemporal magnetic process unfolding over the Sun as a whole.
They observed that the solar surface is magnetized outside of sunspots, that this
(weaker) magnetic field is to first order a dipole, and that this dipole undergoes polarity
reversals with the same period as the sunspot cycle. Horace's Babcock
Model described the Sun's oscillatory magnetic field as having a quasi-steady
periodicity of 22 years.  It covered the oscillatory exchange of energy between toroidal
[2][6]

and poloidal solar magnetic field ingredients.

Cycle history[edit]

Reconstruction of solar activity over 11,400 years. Period of equally high activity over 8,000 years ago marked.
Sunspot numbers over the past 11,400 years have been reconstructed using carbon-
14-based dendroclimatology. The level of solar activity beginning in the 1940s is
exceptional – the last period of similar magnitude occurred around 9,000 years ago
(during the warm Boreal period).  The Sun was at a similarly high level of magnetic
[7][8][9]

activity for only ~10% of the past 11,400 years. Almost all earlier high-activity periods
were shorter than the present episode.  Fossil records suggest that the Solar cycle has
[8]

been stable for at least the last 700 million years. For example, the cycle length during
the Early Permian is estimated to be 10.62 years  and similarly in the Neoproterozoic. [10] [11][12]

Solar activity events recorded in radiocarbon. Present period is on right. Values since 1900 not shown.

Major events and approximate dates

Event Start End

Homeric minimum[13] 750 BCE 550 BCE

Oort minimum 1040 CE 1080 CE

Medieval maximum 1100 1250

Wolf minimum 1280 1350

Spörer Minimum 1450 1550

Maunder Minimum 1645 1715

Dalton Minimum 1790 1820

Modern Maximum 1914 2008

Unspecified 2008 present

Until 2009, it was thought that 28 cycles had spanned the 309 years between 1699 and
2008, giving an average length of 11.04 years, but research then showed that the
longest of these (1784–1799) may actually have been two cycles.  If so then the [14][15]

average length would be only around 10.7 years. Since observations began cycles as
short as 9 years and as long as 14 years have been observed, and if the cycle of 1784–
1799 is double then one of the two component cycles had to be less than 8 years in
length. Significant amplitude variations also occur.
A list of historical "grand minima" of solar activity exists. [7][16]

Recent cycles[edit]
[edit]
Cycle 25
Main article: Solar cycle 25
Several predictions have been made for sunspot cycle 25   based on different methods,
[17]

for the forthcoming solar cycle 25, ranging from very weak to moderate magnitude. A
recent physics-based prediction relying on the data-driven solar dynamo and solar
surface flux transport models by Bhowmik and Nandy (2018) seems to have predicted
the strength of the solar polar field at the current minima correctly and forecasts a weak
but not insignificant solar cycle 25 similar or slightly stronger in strength relative to cycle
24. Notably, they rule out the possibility of the Sun falling in to a Maunder minimum like
(inactive) state over the next decade. A preliminary consensus by a Solar Cycle 25
Prediction Panel was made in early 2019.  The Panel, which was organized by
[18]

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and NASA, based on the published

solar cycle 25 predictions, concluded that Solar Cycle 25 will be very similar to Solar
Cycle 24. They anticipate that the Solar Cycle minimum before Cycle 25 will be long
and deep, just as the minimum that preceded Cycle 24. They expect solar maximum to
occur between 2023 and 2026 with a sunspot range of 95 to 130, given in terms of the
revised sunspot number.
[edit]
Cycle 24
Main article: Solar cycle 24
The current solar cycle began on 4 January 2008,  with minimal activity until early 2010.
[19]

 The cycle featured a "double-peaked" solar maximum. The first peak reached 99 in

[20][21]

2011 and the second in early 2014 at 101.  It appears likely that Cycle 24 will end
[22]

sometime between mid-2019 and late 2020. [23]

[edit]
Cycle 23
Main article: Solar cycle 23
This cycle lasted 11.6 years, beginning in May 1996 and ending in January 2008. The
maximum smoothed sunspot number (monthly number of sunspots averaged over a
twelve-month period) observed during the solar cycle was 120.8 (March 2000), and the
minimum was 1.7 .  A total of 805 days had no sunspots during this cycle.
[24] [25][26][27]
Phenomena[edit]
Main article: Solar phenomena
Because the solar cycle reflects magnetic activity, various magnetically driven solar
phenomena follow the solar cycle, including sunspots and coronal mass ejections.
Sunspots[edit]

A drawing of a sunspot in the Chronicles of John of Worcester.

Main article: Sunspot
The Sun's apparent surface, the photosphere, radiates more actively when there are
more sunspots. Satellite monitoring of solar luminosity revealed a direct relationship
between the Schwabe cycle and luminosity with a peak-to-peak amplitude of about
0.1%.  Luminosity decreases by as much as 0.3% on a 10-day timescale when large
[28]

groups of sunspots rotate across the Earth's view and increase by as much as 0.05%
for up to 6 months due to faculae associated with large sunspot groups. [29]

The best information today comes from SOHO (a cooperative project of the European

Space Agency and NASA), such as the MDI magnetogram, where the solar
"surface" magnetic field can be seen.
As each cycle begins, sunspots appear at mid-latitudes, and then move closer and
closer to the equator until a solar minimum is reached. This pattern is best visualized in
the form of the so-called butterfly diagram. Images of the Sun are divided into latitudinal
strips, and the monthly-averaged fractional surface of sunspots is calculated. This is
plotted vertically as a color-coded bar, and the process is repeated month after month to
produce this time-series diagram.

The sunspot butterfly diagram. This version was constructed by the solar group at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The newest version can be found

at solarcyclescience.com
While magnetic field changes are concentrated at sunspots, the entire sun undergoes
analogous changes, albeit of smaller magnitude.

Time vs. solar latitude diagram of the radial component of the solar magnetic field, averaged over successive solar rotation. The "butterfly" signature of sunspots is

clearly visible at low latitudes. Diagram constructed by the solar group at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The newest version can be found

at solarcyclescience.com

Coronal mass ejection[edit]

Main article: Coronal mass ejection
The solar magnetic field structures the corona, giving it its characteristic shape visible at
times of solar eclipses. Complex coronal magnetic field structures evolve in response to
fluid motions at the solar surface, and emergence of magnetic flux produced
by dynamo action in the solar interior. For reasons not yet understood in detail,
sometimes these structures lose stability, leading to coronal mass ejections into
interplanetary space, or flares, caused by sudden localized release of magnetic energy
driving emission of ultraviolet and X-ray radiation as well as energetic particles. These
eruptive phenomena can have a significant impact on Earth's upper atmosphere and
space environment, and are the primary drivers of what is now called space weather.
The occurrence frequency of coronal mass ejections and flares is strongly modulated by
the cycle. Flares of any given size are some 50 times more frequent at solar maximum
than at minimum. Large coronal mass ejections occur on average a few times a day at
solar maximum, down to one every few days at solar minimum. The size of these
events themselves does not depend sensitively on the phase of the solar cycle. A case
in point are the three large X-class flares that occurred in December 2006, very near
solar minimum; an X9.0 flare on Dec 5 stands as one of the brightest on record. [30]

Patterns[edit]
An overview of three solar cycles shows the relationship between the sunspot cycle, galactic cosmic rays, and the state of our near-space environment. [31]

The Waldmeier effect names the observation that cycles with larger maximum
amplitudes tend to take less time to reach their maxima than cycles with smaller
amplitudes;  maximum amplitudes are negatively correlated to the lengths of earlier
[32]

cycles, aiding prediction. [33]

Solar maxima and minima also exhibit fluctuations at time scales greater than solar
cycles. Increasing and decreasing trends can continue for periods of a century or more.
The Schwabe Cycle is thought to be an amplitude modulation of the 87 year (70–100
year) Gleissberg cycle, named after Wolfgang Gleißberg.  The Gleissberg cycle [5][34][35]

implied that the next solar cycle have a maximum smoothed sunspot number of about
145±30 in 2010 (instead 2010 was just after the cycle's solar minimum) and that the
following cycle have a maximum of about 70±30 in 2023. [36]

Associated centennial variations in magnetic fields in the Corona and Heliosphere have

been detected using Carbon-14 and beryllium-10 cosmogenic isotopes stored in
terrestrial reservoirs such as ice sheets and tree rings  and by using historic [37]

observations of Geomagnetic storm activity, which bridge the time gap between the end
of the usable cosmogenic isotope data and the start of modern satellite data. [38]

These variations have been successfully reproduced using models that employ
magnetic flux continuity equations and observed sunspot numbers to quantify the
emergence of magnetic flux from the top of the solar atmosphere and into
the Heliosphere,  showing that sunspot observations, geomagnetic activity and
[39]

cosmogenic isotopes offer a convergent understanding of solar activity variations.

2,300 year Hallstatt solar variation cycles.

Hypothesized cycles[edit]
Periodicity of solar activity with periods longer than the sunspot cycle of about 11 (22)
years has been proposed,  including: [5]

The 210 year Suess cycle  (a.k.a. "de Vries cycle", named after Hans Eduard
[35]

Suess and Hessel De Vries respectively) is recorded from radiocarbon studies, although

"little evidence of the Suess Cycle" appears in the 400-year sunspot record. [5]

The Hallstatt cycle (named after a cool and wet period in Europe when glaciers
advanced) is hypothesized to extend for approximately 2,400 years. [40][41][42][43]

An as yet unnamed cycle may extend over 6,000 years. [44]

In carbon-14 cycles of 105, 131, 232, 385, 504, 805 and 2,241 years have been
observed, possibly matching cycles derived from other sources.  Damon and [45]

Sonett  proposed carbon 14-based medium- and short-term variations of periods 208
[46]

and 88 years; as well as suggesting a 2300-year radiocarbon period that modulates the
208-year period. [47]

During the Upper Permian 240 million years ago, mineral layers created in the Castile
Formation show cycles of 2,500 years. [48]

Solar magnetic field[edit]

The Sun's magnetic field structures its atmosphere and outer layers all the way through
the corona and into the solar wind. Its spatiotemporal variations lead to various
measurable solar phenomena. Other solar phenomena are closely related to the cycle,
which serves as the energy source and dynamical engine for the former.

Effects[edit]
Solar[edit]

Activity cycles 21, 22 and 23 seen in sunspot number index, TSI, 10.7cm radio flux, and flare index. The vertical scales for each quantity have been adjusted to

permit overplotting on the same vertical axis as TSI. Temporal variations of all quantities are tightly locked in phase, but the degree of correlation in amplitudes is

variable to some degree.

Surface magnetism [edit]
Sunspots eventually decay, releasing magnetic flux in the photosphere. This flux is
dispersed and churned by turbulent convection and solar large-scale flows. These
transport mechanisms lead to the accumulation of magnetized decay products at high
solar latitudes, eventually reversing the polarity of the polar fields (notice how the blue
and yellow fields reverse in the Hathaway/NASA/MSFC graph above).
The dipolar component of the solar magnetic field reverses polarity around the time of
solar maximum and reaches peak strength at the solar minimum.
Space[edit]
Spacecraft [edit]
CMEs (coronal mass ejections) produce a radiation flux of high-energy protons,
sometimes known as solar cosmic rays. These can cause radiation damage to
electronics and solar cells in satellites. Solar proton events also can cause single-event
upset (SEU) events on electronics; at the same, the reduced flux of galactic cosmic
radiation during solar maximum decreases the high-energy component of particle flux.
CME radiation is dangerous to astronauts on a space mission who are outside the
shielding produced by the Earth's magnetic field. Future mission designs (e.g., for
a Mars Mission) therefore incorporate a radiation-shielded "storm shelter" for astronauts
to retreat to during such an event.
Gleißberg developed a CME forecasting method that relies on consecutive cycles. [49]

On the positive side, the increased irradiance during solar maximum expands the
envelope of the Earth's atmosphere, causing low-orbiting space debris to re-enter more
quickly.
Galactic cosmic ray flux [edit]
The outward expansion of solar ejecta into interplanetary space provides overdensities
of plasma that are efficient at scattering high-energy cosmic rays entering the solar
system from elsewhere in the galaxy. The frequency of solar eruptive events is
modulated by the cycle, changing the degree of cosmic ray scattering in the outer solar
system accordingly. As a consequence, the cosmic ray flux in the inner Solar System is
anticorrelated with the overall level of solar activity.  This anticorrelation is clearly
[50]

detected in cosmic ray flux measurements at the Earth's surface.

Some high-energy cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere collide hard enough with
molecular atmospheric constituents that they occasionally cause nuclear spallation
reactions. Fission products include radionuclides such as  C and  Be that settle on the
14 10

Earth's surface. Their concentration can be measured in tree trunks or ice cores,
allowing a reconstruction of solar activity levels into the distant past.  Such
[51]

reconstructions indicate that the overall level of solar activity since the middle of the
twentieth century stands amongst the highest of the past 10,000 years, and that epochs
of suppressed activity, of varying durations have occurred repeatedly over that time
span.
Atmospheric[edit]
 [edit]
Solar irradiance
Main article: Solar irradiance
The total solar irradiance (TSI) is the amount of solar radiative energy incident on the
Earth's upper atmosphere. TSI variations were undetectable until satellite observations
began in late 1978. A series of radiometers were launched on satellites from the 1970s
to the 2000s.  TSI measurements varied from 1360 to 1370 W/m  across ten satellites.
[52] 2

One of the satellites, the ACRIMSAT was launched by the ACRIM group. The

controversial 1989–1991 "ACRIM gap" between non-overlapping ACRIM satellites was
interpolated by the ACRIM group into a composite showing +0.037%/decade rise.
Another series based on the ACRIM data is produced by the PMOD group and shows a
−0.008%/decade downward trend.  This 0.045%/decade difference impacts climate
[53]

models.
Solar irradiance varies systematically over the cycle,  both in total irradiance and in its
[54]

relative components (UV vs visible and other frequencies). The solar luminosity is an

estimated 0.07 percent brighter during the mid-cycle solar maximum than the terminal
solar minimum. Photospheric magnetism appears to be the primary cause (96%) of
1996–2013 TSI variation.  The ratio of ultraviolet to visible light varies.
[55] [56]

TSI varies in phase with the solar magnetic activity cycle  with an amplitude of about
[57]

0.1% around an average value of about 1361.5 W/m  (the "solar constant"). Variations
2[58]

about the average of up to −0.3% are caused by large sunspot groups and of +0.05%
by large faculae and the bright network on a 7-10-day timescale  (see TSI variation
[59]

graphics).  Satellite-era TSI variations show small but detectable trends.

[60] [61][62]

TSI is higher at solar maximum, even though sunspots are darker (cooler) than the
average photosphere. This is caused by magnetized structures other than sunspots
during solar maxima, such as faculae and active elements of the "bright" network, that
are brighter (hotter) than the average photosphere. They collectively overcompensate
for the irradiance deficit associated with the cooler, but less numerous sunspots. The
primary driver of TSI changes on solar rotational and sunspot cycle timescales is the
varying photospheric coverage of these radiatively active solar magnetic structures. [citation needed]

Energy changes in UV irradiance involved in production and loss of ozone have

atmospheric effects. The 30 HPa Atmospheric pressure level changed height in phase
with solar activity during solar cycles 20–23. UV irradiance increase caused higher
ozone production, leading to stratospheric heating and to poleward displacements in
the stratospheric and tropospheric wind systems. [63]

Short-wavelength radiation [edit]

A solar cycle: a montage of ten years' worth of Yohkoh SXT images, demonstrating the variation in solar activity during a sunspot cycle, from after August 30,

1991, to September 6, 2001. Credit: the Yohkoh mission of ISAS (Japan) and NASA (US).

With a temperature of 5870 K, the photosphere emits a proportion of radiation in

the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and above. However, hotter upper layers of the Sun's
atmosphere (chromosphere and corona) emit more short-wavelength radiation. Since
the upper atmosphere is not homogeneous and contains significant magnetic structure,
the solar ultraviolet (UV), EUV and X-ray flux varies markedly over the cycle.
The photo montage to the left illustrates this variation for soft X-ray, as observed by the
Japanese satellite Yohkoh from after August 30, 1991, at the peak of cycle 22, to
September 6, 2001, at the peak of cycle 23. Similar cycle-related variations are
observed in the flux of solar UV or EUV radiation, as observed, for example, by
the SOHO or TRACE satellites.
Even though it only accounts for a minuscule fraction of total solar radiation, the impact
of solar UV, EUV and X-ray radiation on the Earth's upper atmosphere is profound.
Solar UV flux is a major driver of stratospheric chemistry, and increases in ionizing
radiation significantly affect ionosphere-influenced temperature and electrical
conductivity.
Solar radio flux [edit]
Emission from the Sun at centimetric (radio) wavelength is due primarily to coronal
plasma trapped in the magnetic fields overlying active regions.  The F10.7 index is a [64]

measure of the solar radio flux per unit frequency at a wavelength of 10.7 cm, near the
peak of the observed solar radio emission. F10.7 is often expressed in SFU or solar flux
units (1 SFU = 10  W m  Hz ). It represents a measure of diffuse, nonradiative coronal
−22 −2 −1

plasma heating. It is an excellent indicator of overall solar activity levels and correlates
well with solar UV emissions.
Sunspot activity has a major effect on long distance radio communications, particularly
on the shortwave bands although medium wave and low VHF frequencies are also
affected. High levels of sunspot activity lead to improved signal propagation on higher
frequency bands, although they also increase the levels of solar noise and ionospheric
disturbances. These effects are caused by impact of the increased level of solar
radiation on the ionosphere.
10.7 cm solar flux could interfere with point-to-point terrestrial communications. [65]

Clouds [edit]
Speculations about the effects of cosmic-ray changes over the cycle potentially include:

 Changes in ionization affect the aerosol abundance that serves as the

condensation nucleus for cloud formation.  During solar minima more cosmic rays
[66]

reach Earth, potentially creating ultra-small aerosol particles as precursors to Cloud

condensation nuclei.  Clouds formed from greater amounts of condensation nuclei
[67]

are brighter, longer lived and likely to produce less precipitation.

 A change in cosmic rays could cause an increase in certain types of clouds,
affecting Earth's albedo. [citation needed]

 It was proposed that, particularly at high latitudes, cosmic ray variation may

impact terrestrial low altitude cloud cover (unlike a lack of correlation with high
altitude clouds), partially influenced by the solar-driven interplanetary magnetic field
(as well as passage through the galactic arms over longer timeframes),  but this
[68][69][70][71]

hypothesis was not confirmed. [72]

Later papers showed that production of clouds via cosmic rays could not be explained
by nucleation particles. Accelerator results failed to produce sufficient, and sufficiently
large, particles to result in cloud formation;  this includes observations after a major
[73][74]

solar storm.  Observations after Chernobyl do not show any induced clouds.

[75] [76]

Terrestrial[edit]
Organisms [edit]
The impact of the solar cycle on living organisms has been investigated
(see chronobiology). Some researchers claim to have found connections with human
health. [77]

The amount of ultraviolet UVB light at 300 nm reaching the Earth varies by as much as
400% over the solar cycle due to variations in the protective ozone layer. In the
stratosphere, ozone is continuously regenerated by the splitting of O  molecules by 2

ultraviolet light. During a solar minimum, the decrease in ultraviolet light received from
the Sun leads to a decrease in the concentration of ozone, allowing increased UVB to
reach the Earth's surface. [78]

[edit]
Radio communication
Main article: Skywave
Skywave modes of radio communication operate by bending (refracting) radio waves
(electromagnetic radiation) through the Ionosphere. During the "peaks" of the solar
cycle, the ionosphere becomes increasingly ionized by solar photons and cosmic rays.
This affects the propagation of the radio wave in complex ways that can either facilitate
or hinder communications. Forecasting of skywave modes is of considerable interest to
commercial marine and aircraft communications, amateur radio
operators and shortwave broadcasters. These users occupy frequencies within the High
Frequency or 'HF' radio spectrum that are most affected by these solar and ionospheric
variances. Changes in solar output affect the maximum usable frequency, a limit on the
highest frequency usable for communications.
Climate [edit]
Both long-term and short-term variations in solar activity are proposed to potentially
affect global climate, but it has proven challenging to show any link between solar
variation and climate. [79]

Early research attempted to correlate weather with limited success,  followed by

[80]

attempts to correlate solar activity with global temperature. The cycle also impacts
regional climate. Measurements from the SORCE's Spectral Irradiance Monitor show
that solar UV variability produces, for example, colder winters in the U.S. and northern
Europe and warmer winters in Canada and southern Europe during solar minima. [81]

Three proposed mechanisms mediate solar variations' climate impacts:

 Total solar irradiance ("Radiative forcing").

 Ultraviolet irradiance. The UV component varies by more than the total, so if UV
were for some (as yet unknown) reason having a disproportionate effect, this might
affect climate.
 Solar wind-mediated galactic cosmic ray changes, which may affect cloud cover.
The sunspot cycle variation of 0.1% has small but detectable effects on the Earth's
climate.  Camp and Tung suggest that solar irradiance correlates with a variation of
[82][83][84]

0.18 K ±0.08 K (0.32 °F ±0.14 °F) in measured average global temperature between

solar maximum and minimum. [85]

Other effects include one study which found a relationship with wheat prices,  and
[86]

another one that found a weak correlation with the flow of water in the Paraná River.
 Eleven-year cycles have been found in tree-ring thicknesses  and layers at the bottom
[87] [10]

of a lake  hundreds of millions of years ago.

[11]

The current scientific consensus, most specifically that of the IPCC, is that solar
variations only play a marginal role in driving global climate change,  since the
[79]

measured magnitude of recent solar variation is much smaller than the forcing due to
greenhouse gases.  Also, average solar activity in the 2010s was no higher than in the
[88]

1950s (see above), whereas average global temperatures had risen markedly over that
period. Otherwise, the level of understanding of solar impacts on weather is low. [89]

Solar cycle also affects the orbital decay of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) objects by

affecting the density at the upper thermospheric levels. [90]

Solar dynamo[edit]
Main article: Solar dynamo
The 11-year sunspot cycle is thought to be one-half of a 22-year Babcock–Leighton
solar dynamo cycle, which corresponds to an oscillatory exchange of energy
between toroidal and poloidal solar magnetic fields which is mediated by solar plasma
flows which also provides energy to the dynamo system at every step. At solar-cycle
maximum, the external poloidal dipolar magnetic field is near its dynamo-cycle minimum
strength, but an internal toroidal quadrupolar field, generated through differential
rotation within the tachocline, is near its maximum strength. At this point in the dynamo
cycle, buoyant upwelling within the Convection zone forces emergence of the toroidal
magnetic field through the photosphere, giving rise to pairs of sunspots, roughly aligned
east–west with opposite magnetic polarities. The magnetic polarity of sunspot pairs
alternates every solar cycle, a phenomenon known as the Hale cycle. [91][92]

During the solar cycle's declining phase, energy shifts from the internal toroidal
magnetic field to the external poloidal field, and sunspots diminish in number. At solar
minimum, the toroidal field is, correspondingly, at minimum strength, sunspots are
relatively rare and the poloidal field is at maximum strength. During the next cycle,
differential rotation converts magnetic energy back from the poloidal to the toroidal field,
with a polarity that is opposite to the previous cycle. The process carries on
continuously, and in an idealized, simplified scenario, each 11-year sunspot cycle
corresponds to a change in the polarity of the Sun's large-scale magnetic field. [93][94]

Solar dynamo models indicate that plasma flux transport processes in the solar interior
such as differential rotation, meridional circulation and turbulent pumping play an
important role in the recycling of the toroidal and poloidal components of the solar
magnetic field (Hazra and Nandy 2016). The relative strengths of these flux transport
processes also determine the "memory" of the solar cycle that plays an important role in
physics-based predictions of the solar cycle. Yeates, Nandy and Mackay
(2008) and Karak and Nandy (2012), in particular, utilized stochastically forced non-
linear solar dynamo simulations to establish that the solar cycle memory is short, lasting
over one cycle, thus implying accurate predictions are possible only for the next sunspot
cycle and not beyond. This postulate of a short one cycle memory in the solar dynamo
mechanism was later observationally verified by Muñoz-Jaramillo et al. (2013).
Although the tachocline has long been thought to be the key to generating the Sun's
large-scale magnetic field, recent research has questioned this assumption. Radio
observations of brown dwarfs have indicated that they also maintain large-scale
magnetic fields and may display cycles of magnetic activity. The Sun has a radiative
core surrounded by a convective envelope, and at the boundary of these two is
the tachocline. However, brown dwarfs lack radiative cores and tachoclines. Their
structure consists of a solar-like convective envelope that exists from core to surface.
Since they lack a tachocline yet still display solar-like magnetic activity, it has been
suggested that solar magnetic activity is only generated in the convective envelope. [95]

Speculated influence of the planets[edit]

It has long been theorized that the planets may have an influence on the solar cycle,
with many speculative papers published through years. In 1974 there was a best-seller
called The Jupiter Effect based on the idea. In 2012 a team led by José
Abreu   calculated the torque exerted by the planets on a non-spherical tachocline layer
[96]

deep in the Sun and proposed an explanation of how the tiny tidal force can
synchronize the solar dynamo. However, their results were shown  to be an artifact of
[97]

the incorrectly applied smoothing method leading to the aliasing. Moreover, the solar
variability is known   to be essentially stochastic and unpredictable beyond one solar
[98]

cycle, which contradicts the idea of the deterministic planetary influence on solar
dynamo. More recently, in Spring 2019 a team led by Frank Stefani   published new
[99]

results on the potential influence of the planetary tidal forces on the sun. The team of
scientists compared historical observations of solar activity during the last thousand
years with the evolution of planetary constellations, indicating that the two phenomena
are statistically linked.