Periodic oscillations associated with Alfven waves with periods ranging from several tens of minutes to several hours are commonly seen in the solar wind.

Observations from lidars and satellites have shown that large temperature increases and decreases occur in the middle and low latitudes of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region during geomagnetic storms.

The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a NASA Small Explorer mission that provides high-resolution spectra and images of the Sun in the 133–141 nm and 278–283 nm wavelength bands.

Some recent studies have revealed that the post-storm thermospheric mass density sometime drops below its pre-storm value. This phenomenon has been attributed to the over-cooling effect caused by enhanced infrared emissions from nitric oxide.

The Sun occasionally goes through Maunder-like extended grand minima when its magnetic activity drops considerably from the normal activity level for several decades. Many possible theories have been proposed to explain the origin of these minima.