2.6 APOD SOHO Solar Cycle

This is a picture of the sun's solar cycle (which takes 11 years) taken by the SOHO satellite currently orbiting the sun. A solar cycle is created by the sun's magnetic field. When the cycle is at the solar maximum, sunspots, coronal mass ejections, and flare phenomenons are at their highest whereas when the cycle is at the solar minimum, these occurances are less frequent. We are currently at a solar minimum (the last one was in 1996) and the solar maximum was in 2001. It's neat how you can actually see all the activity in the picture of 2001 whereas the pictures of 1996 and 2007 actually look dormant.