Solar Cycle 25 has arrived and Solar Cycle 24 was officially the 4th-smallest intensity since regular record-keeping began with Solar Cycle 1 in 1755. It was also the weakest cycle in 100 years. But was Solar Cycle 19 the one which sealed our fate on this planet?



Solar minimum - the period when the sun is least active - as seen by the Solar Ultraviolet Imager aboard GOES-East on Dec. 15, 2019. We are now in Solar Cycle 25. Credit: NOAA

September 15, 2020 - The solar minimum between Solar Cycle 24 and 25 - the period when the sun is least active - happened in December 2019, when the 13-month smoothed sunspot number fell to 1.8, according to the Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel, co-chaired by NOAA and NASA. We are now in Solar Cycle 25 with peak sunspot activity expected in 2025, the panel said.

Solar Cycle 24 was average in length, at 11 years, and had the 4th-smallest intensity since regular record-keeping began with Solar Cycle 1 in 1755.