Solar Science

Solar cycles, the Sun and its place in human history.

The Sun runs on cycles that affect space weather and, in turn, technology on Earth. These guides explain the solar cycle with measured data and look at how ancient cultures understood the Sun.

Measured data and open hypotheses are kept apart, so the science stays clear.

Guides

• The Solar Cycle Explained: Sunspots, Solar Maximum and Space Weather

  How the Sun's 11-year cycle works, where Solar Cycle 25 stands against official forecasts, and what is and is not established about effects on Earth.

• The Sun in Ancient Cultures: Gods, Calendars and Alignments

  How civilizations from Egypt to the Andes honored the Sun, tracked it with stone monuments and built it into religion and the calendar.