What is the name for a period that occurs about every 11 years when the sun's magnetic field lines are the most distorted?
Solar maximum Solar maximum Solar maximum or solar max is a regular period of greatest Sun activity during the 11-year solar cycle. During solar maximum, large numbers of sunspots appear, and the solar irradiance output grows by about 0.07%. The increased energy output of solar maxima can impact Earth's global climate, and recent studies have shown some correlation with regional weather patterns. At solar maximum, the Sun's magnetic field lines are the most distorted due to the magnetic field on the solar equator rotating at a slightly faster pace than at the solar poles. On average, the solar cycle takes about 11
Interplanetary magnetic field a shape similar to a twirled ballerina skirt, and changes in shape through the solar cycle as the Sun's magnetic field reverses about every 11 years. The plasma in the interplanetary medium is also responsible for the strength of the Sun's magnetic field at the orbit of the Earth being over 100 times greater than originally anticipated. If space were a vacuum, then the Sun's magnetic dipole field, about 10 teslas at the surface of the Sun, would reduce with the inverse cube of the distance to about 10 teslas. But satellite observations show that it is about 100 times