Editing Solar maximum (section)

{{Short description|Regular period of greatest solar activity}}
{{for|the spacecraft|Solar Maximum Mission}}
{{Broader|Solar cycle}}
[[File:Solar Cycle Prediction.gif|thumbnail|right|A prediction for Sunspot Cycle 24 (2008-2020) gives a smoothed sunspot number maximum of about 66 in the Summer of 2013. Current observations make this the smallest sunspot cycle since records began in the 1750s.<ref>[http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml NASA]</ref>]]

'''Solar maximum''' is the regular period of greatest [[solar activity]] during the [[Sun]]'s 11-year [[solar cycle]]. During solar maximum, large numbers of [[sunspot]]s appear, and the [[solar irradiance]] output grows by about 0.07%.<ref name="solar-climate">{{cite journal |author=C. D. Camp|author2=K. K. Tung|name-list-style=amp |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=34|issue=14|pages= L14703 | title=Surface warming by the solar cycle as revealed by the composite mean difference projection |url=http://depts.washington.edu/amath/research/articles/Tung/journals/GRL-solar-07.pdf|date=2007 |doi= 10.1029/2007GL030207  | access-date=20 January 2012 |bibcode=2007GeoRL..3414703C|doi-access=free}}</ref> On average, the [[solar cycle]] takes about 11 years to go from one solar maximum to the next, with duration observed varying from 9 to 14 years.

[[File:Solar-cycle-data.png|thumb|Three recent solar cycles]]

Large [[solar storm]]s often occur during solar maximum. For example, the [[Carrington Event]], which took place a few months before the solar maximum of [[solar cycle 10]], was the most intense [[geomagnetic storm]] in [[recorded history]] and widely considered to have been caused by an equally large solar storm.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22525233 |title=Monster radiation burst from Sun |work=[[BBC News]] |date=14 May 2013 |accessdate=2015-01-06}}</ref>