The Sun has spent the past few days hurling repeated bursts of energy and plasma toward Earth, unleashing a sequence of geomagnetic storms that lit up skies across continents and sent satellites and power grids into a state of high alert.

But what exactly is going on with our star — and why is it suddenly so hyperactive?

Scientists say the answer lies in where we are in the Sun’s natural activity cycle.

A STORMY STAR NEARING ITS PEAK

“Our star, the Sun, is a stormy star,” explains the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India (CESSI) at IISER Kolkata. It goes through an 11-year cycle of magnetic activity, known as the sunspot or Schwabe cycle. At its peak, the solar maximum, sunspots multiply and the Sun becomes dramatically more volatile.

A decade ago, Indian scientists led by Pr

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