Scientists say the Sun has just undergone an important change. Our star's magnetic field has flipped.
The Sun's magnetic north pole, which was in the northern hemisphere just a few months ago, now points south. It's a topsy-turvy situation, but not an unexpected one. This always happens around the time of solar maximum. The magnetic poles exchange places at the peak of the sunspot cycle.
The Sun's magnetic poles will remain as they are now, with the north magnetic pole pointing through the Sun's southern hemisphere, until the year 2012 when they will reverse again. This transition happens at the peak of every 11-year sunspot cycle.
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