Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
Feature Astronomy

Quiet maximum

The current solar cycle is a snoozer, but that’s not a bad thing

SERENE STATE  An image taken in September by the STEREO spacecraft shows the sun in a state of relative serenity compared with past solar maxima.

StereO/NASA

By Alexandra Witze

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Astronomy

  1. Exploding star illustration
    Space

    How two gamma-ray bursts created record-breaking high-energy photons

    By Christopher Crockett
  2. solar spicules
    Space

    Realigning magnetic fields may drive the sun’s spiky plasma tendrils

    By Christopher Crockett
  3. Sunburst Arc galaxy
    Space

    Light leaking from a distant galaxy hints at a cosmic makeover’s origins

    By Christopher Crockett
  4. Voyager 1 and 2
    Space

    Voyager 2 reveals the dynamic, complex nature of the solar system’s edge

    By Christopher Crockett
  5. Space

    Strontium is the first heavy element detected from a neutron star merger

    By Maria Temming
  6. shredded star
    Space

    A supermassive black hole shredded a star and was caught in the act

    By Carolyn Wilke
  7. Saturn's moons
    Space

    With 20 new moons, Saturn now has the most of any solar system planet

    By Sofie Bates
  8. Didier Queloz, Michel Mayor, James Peebles
    Physics

    Physics Nobel awarded for discoveries about the universe’s evolution and exoplanets

    By Emily Conover

From the Nature Index

Paid Content