MADISON (WKOW) – Every 11 years, the sun completes a solar cycle and begins a new one. We recently started a new cycle, called Solar Cycle 25.

27 Storm Track’s Katherine Noel spoke to someone from NASA about how the sun’s activity could impact us here on earth. “It’s important to understand the solar cycle because space weather caused by the sun can impact the power grid,” said Lika Guhathakurta, NASA HQ Program Scientist.

Scientists predict the sun’s activity will increase over the months and years to come as we get closer to July of 20-25. Which, is when the next solar maximum is expected to occur.

Over the course of the cycle, the sun will transition from a calm period to one that is intense and active.

During the peak of this activity, the sun’s magnetic poles flip and it’s possible for solar flares or other eruptions to disrupt communications on Earth. This, makes it a potentially vulnerable time for us when it comes to using technology.

The more scientists learn about the solar cycle, the better they can predict when these events may occur.

“Your power grid can go out like it happened in 1989… you know your GPS is malfunctioning… I would say check the solar cycle because your internet can go down,” said Guhathakurta.

According to the prediction, this solar cycle is expected to be similar to the one we just experienced for the last 11 years.