Since Solar Cycle 25 began in Dec. 2019, 782 sunspot groups have crossed the face of the sun. Almost half (361) appeared in 2023. This montage assembled by Ali Ebrahimi Seraji of the Mahani Observatory in Iran shows how sunspot production has skyrocketed:
"I created this 4-year overview using images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory," says Seraji. "The graph beneath the images is from NOAA; it shows actual monthly sunspot counts (white) vs. predictions (blue). The sun is outperforming the forecast."
Many forecasters believe that Solar Max will occur in 2024. That means we can expect even more sunspots this year. Solar flare, geomagnetic storms and auroras are in the offing. Stay tuned!
SOURCE: https://www.spaceweather.com/
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