"The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity," Stanford University solar physicist Phil Scherrer said a statement. "This is a regular part of the solar cycle."
Scientists have recorded these "flips" since 1976, and say they coincide with the sun's period of greatest solar activity, known as the "Solar Maximum."
"It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," Stanford solar physicist Todd Hoeksema said. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system."
The polarity switch in the sun's magnetic field is believed by some to cause climate changes on planets throughout the solar system.
"During field reversals, the current sheet — a sprawling surface jutting outward from the sun's equator where the sun's slowly-rotating magnetic field induces an electrical current — becomes very wavy," NASA says. "As Earth orbits the sun, we dip in and out of the current sheet. Transitions from one side to another can stir up stormy space weather around our planet."
Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/sun-magnetic-field-flipping/2013/08/07/id/519145#ixzz2eSleBsEQ
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