Your navigation system just got a critical update, one that happens periodically because Earth’s magnetic north pole keeps moving. Here’s what to know.

As sunspots emerge on the sun's surface close to its equator, their orientations will match the old magnetic field, while sunspots forming closer to the poles will have a magnetic field matching the ...

with the magnetosphere weakening so much that its polarity reversed. This flips the magnetic north and south poles, and the change can last for tens of thousands of years. Scientists have ...

But as we shift toward solar maximum, "the sun's magnetic field becomes more complex, without a clear north-south pole separation," French said. By the time solar maximum passes and solar minimum ...

If all the compasses in the world started pointing south rather than north, many people might ... of times in our planet's history the polarity of the magnetic shield ensheathing the globe has ...

The shift in polarity marks the point at ... But as we shift toward solar maximum, "the sun's magnetic field becomes more complex, without a clear north-south pole separation," French said.