SOLAR CYCLE MAX. “In the longer term, the solar activity varies with the well-known 11-year cycle, which introduces an 11-year activity cycle also to the geomagnetic records. As the orientation of the dipole axis relative to the Sun-Earth line changes over the course of the year, the activity is largest during the equinoxes when the dipole is tilted along the Earth’s orbital track and the projection of the IMF to the geomagnetic field maximizes.”
https://link.springer.com/article/10.12942/lrsp-2007-1