Editor's Note: See our update on what the sun's magnetic flip means for Earth here: Sun's Magnetic Field Flip Won't Doom Earth, Scientists Say 
 
 The sun is gearing up for a major solar flip, NASA says. 
 
 In an event that occurs once every 11 years, the magnetic field of the sun will change its polarity in a matter of months, according new observations by NASA-supported observatories. 
 
 The flipping of the sun's magnetic field marks the peak of the star's 11-year solar cycle and the halfway point in the sun's "solar maximum" — the peak of its solar weather cycle. NASA released a new video describing the sun's magnetic flip on Monday (Aug. 5). 
 
 "It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," Todd Hoeksema, the director of Stanford University's Wilcox Solar Observatory, said in a statement. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system." 
 
 As the field shifts, the "current sheet" — a surface that radiates billions of kilometers outward from the sun's equator — becomes very wavy, NASA officials said. Earth orbits the sun, dipping in and out of the waves of the current sheet. The transition from a wave to a dip can create stormy space weather around Earth, NASA officials said. 
 
 The sun's magnetic field is gearing up to shift, a once in 11 year event, according to NASA officials. Credit: NASA 
 
 "The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity," Stanford solar physicist Phil Scherrer said in a statement. "This is a regular part of the solar cycle." 
 
 While the polarity shift can stir up some stormy weather, it also provides extra shielding from dangerous cosmic rays. These high-energy particles, which are accelerated by events like supernova explosions, zip through the universe at nearly the speed of light. They can harm satellites and astronauts in space, and the wrinkled current sheet better protects the planet from these particles. 
 
 The effects of the rippled sheet can also be felt throughout the solar system, far beyond Pluto and even touching the Voyager probes near the barrier of interstellar space. 
 
 "The sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up," Scherrer said. "Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of solar max will be underway." 
 
 The current solar maximum is the weakest in 100 years, experts have said. Usually, at the height of a solar cycle, sunspot activity increases. These dark regions on the sun's surface can give birth to solar flares and ejections, but there have been fewer observed sunspots this year than in the maximums of previous cycles. 
 
 Follow Miriam Kramer @mirikramer and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com. ||||| Get ready, Earth. The sun's magnetic field is about to do a 180 when the celestial body's electromagnetism flips and changes polarity. 
 
 According to NASA-supported observations, the complete reversal is expected to take place in the coming months. 
 
 "It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," Todd Hoeksema, a solar physicist and director of Stanford University's Wilcox Solar Observatory, said in a statement released by the agency. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system." 
 
 So should we be concerned about the reversal of the sun's magnetic field? 
 
 History says no. 
 
 While the field reversal is a big event for the solar system, the change in polarity is rather routine. The magnetic flip takes place at the peak of each solar cycle every 11 years. Nearing the mid-point of the sun's 24th observed solar cycle, the star's south pole will soon follow the north's lead and change its magnetic sign. 
 
 The change in polarity will have certain effects throughout the heliosphere -- the sun's domain, which extends well beyond Pluto -- but, as NASA notes in its ScienceCasts video, one of the largest effects Earth can expect is some stormy space weather around the planet. Astronauts in orbit may also see some changes in cosmic rays, which could be a potential danger. 
 
 The 11-year cycle governs the level of solar activity on the sun. This year, during the peak of the cycle when solar activity is the strongest, the flip will be accompanied by increased levels of turbulence, such as sunspots. 
 
 However, as solar physicists have pointed out, 2013's cycle peak has turned out to be one of the weakest observed in the past century, with relatively minimal activity. 
 
 Watch NASA's ScienceCasts video below for a thorough explanation of the magnetic field reversal. 
 
 Clarification: The sun has gone through 24 solar cycles since scientists began recording solar activity. ||||| ADDS TIME THE FLARE OCCURRED - This extreme ultraviolet wavelength image provided by NASA shows a solar flare that erupted at 7 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. An impressive solar flare is heading... (Associated Press) 
 
 The largest solar storm in five years was due to arrive on Earth early Thursday, promising to shake the globe's magnetic field while expanding the Northern Lights. 
 
 The storm started with a massive solar flare earlier in the week and grew as it raced outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble, scientists said. When it strikes, the particles will be moving at 4 million mph. 
 
 "It's hitting us right in the nose," said Joe Kunches, a scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colo. 
 
 The massive cloud of charged particles could disrupt utility grids, airline flights, satellite networks and GPS services, especially in northern areas. But the same blast could also paint colorful auroras farther from the poles than normal. 
 
 Astronomers say the sun has been relatively quiet for some time. And this storm, while strong, may seem fiercer because Earth has been lulled by several years of weak solar activity. 
 
 The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle, which is supposed to reach peak storminess next year. Solar storms don't harm people, but they do disrupt technology. And during the last peak around 2002, experts learned that GPS was vulnerable to solar outbursts. 
 
 Because new technology has flourished since then, scientists could discover that some new systems are also at risk, said Jeffrey Hughes, director of the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling at Boston University. 
 
 A decade ago, this type of solar storm happened a couple of times a year, Hughes said. 
 
 "This is a good-size event, but not the extreme type," said Bill Murtagh, program coordinator for the federal government's Space Weather Prediction Center. 
 
 The sun erupted Tuesday evening, and the most noticeable effects should arrive here between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. EST Thursday, according to forecasters at the space weather center. The effects could linger through Friday morning. 
 
 Center forecaster Rob Steenburgh said shortly before 5 a.m. EST Thursday that there still had been no noticeable effects on Earth or on a satellite geared to monitor the storm's impact. 
 
 "We haven't seen the shock arrive at the satellite yet," Steenburgh said. "We're keeping an eye on it." 
 
 The region of the sun that erupted can still send more blasts our way, Kunches said. He said another set of active sunspots is ready to aim at Earth right after this. 
 
 "This is a big sun spot group, particularly nasty," NASA solar physicist David Hathaway said. "Things are really twisted up and mixed up. It keeps flaring." 
 
 Storms like this start with sun spots, Hathaway said. 
 
 Then comes an initial solar flare of subatomic particles that resemble a filament coming out of the sun. That part already hit Earth only minutes after the initial burst, bringing radio and radiation disturbances. 
 
 After that comes the coronal mass ejection, which looks like a growing bubble and takes a couple days to reach Earth. It's that ejection that could cause magnetic disruptions Thursday. 
 
 "It could give us a bit of a jolt," NASA solar physicist Alex Young said. 
 
 The storm follows an earlier, weaker solar eruption that happened Sunday, Kunches said. 
 
 For North America, the good part of a solar storm _ the one that creates more noticeable auroras or Northern Lights _ will peak Thursday evening. Auroras could dip as far south as the Great Lakes states or lower, Kunches said, but a full moon will make them harder to see. 
 
 Auroras are "probably the treat we get when the sun erupts," Kunches said. 
 
 Still, the potential for problems is widespread. Solar storms have three ways they can disrupt technology on Earth: with magnetic, radio and radiation emissions. This is an unusual situation, when all three types of solar storm disruptions are likely to be strong, Kunches said. That makes it the strongest overall since December 2006. 
 
 That means "a whole host of things" could follow, he said. 
 
 North American utilities are monitoring for abnormalities on their grids and have contingency plans, said Kimberly Mielcarek, spokeswoman for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a consortium of electricity grid operators. 
 
 In 1989, a strong solar storm knocked out the power grid in Quebec, causing 6 million people to lose power. 
 
 Solar storms can also make global positioning systems less accurate and cause GPS outages. 
 
 The storm could trigger communication problems and additional radiation around the north and south poles _ a risk that will probably force airlines to reroute flights. Some already have done so, Kunches said. 
 
 Satellites could be affected, too. NASA spokesman Rob Navias said the space agency isn't taking any extra precautions to protect astronauts on the International Space Station from added radiation. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center: www.swpc.noaa.gov 
 
 NASA on solar flare: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/News030712-X1.5.html 
 
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 Follow Seth Borenstein at http://twitter.com/borenbears
– Sun feel a little off to you these days? Congratulations on being finely attuned to the inner workings of the solar system. The sun is in the process of reversing its magnetic fields, and the full process should be complete before the year is out, reports Space.com. It may sound like a doomsday plot twist, but the reversal occurs every 11 years at the peak of the sun's solar cycle, explains the Huffington Post. "The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity," says Stanford physicist Phil Scherrer. In fact, "the sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up." The peak of the cycle usually is associated with an increase in sunspots and solar flares, but this year's peak is relatively tame. The flip, then, should occur with most earthlings being none the wiser.