Showing posts with label solar minimum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solar minimum. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Solar minimum on the way?

I posted about this earlier and while it's not "global warming" type of panic it is something to be aware of.
After you get more than one or two decades under your belt you begin to realize that weather occurs in cycles and many other more powerful forces than man influences those cycles.

Why the sun going blank means a ‘Game of Thrones’-like winter is coming
You may not have noticed but our sun has gone as blank as a cue ball. As in, it’s lost its spots.

According to scientists, this unsettling phenomenon is a sign we are heading for a mini ice age.

Meteorologist and renowned sun-watcher Paul Dorian raised the alarm in his latest report, which has sparked a mild panic about an impending “Game of Thrones”-style winter not seen since the 17th century.

“For the second time this month, the sun has gone completely blank,” Dorian says.

“The blank sun is a sign that the next solar minimum is approaching and there will be an increasing number of spotless days over the next few years.

“At first, the blankness will stretch for just a few days at a time, then it’ll continue for weeks at a time, and finally it should last for months at a time when the sunspot cycle reaches its nadir. The next solar minimum phase is expected to take place around 2019 or 2020.”

According to NASA, the sun goes through a natural solar cycle approximately every 11 years. The cycle is marked by the increase and decrease of sunspots — visible as dark blemishes on the sun’s surface, or photosphere. The greatest number of sunspots in any given solar cycle is designated as “solar maximum.” The lowest number is “solar minimum.”~
I guess it won't be long before various 20+ somethings start panicking about "global cooling" like they did back in the 70's.
Wonder if I'll live long enough to see them go back to crapping there pants over "global warming" again?

Saturday, June 25, 2016

The Sun and its Blank Stare

solar image spotless for the second time this month
Make of this what you will.

‘The sun goes blank again during the weakest solar cycle in more than a century’
Consequences of a solar minimum
Contrary to popular belief, solar minimum is not a period of complete quiet and inactivity as it is associated with numerous interesting changes.  First, cosmic rays surge into the inner solar system with relative ease during periods of solar minimum.  Galactic cosmic rays coming from outside the solar system must propagate upstream against the solar wind and a thicket of solar magnetic fields.  Solar wind decreases and sun’s magnetic field weakens during solar minimums making it easier for cosmic rays to reach the Earth.  This is a more dangerous time for astronauts as the increase in potent cosmic rays can easily shatter a strand of human DNA. Also, during years of lower sunspot number, the sun’s extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV) drops and the Earth’s upper atmosphere cools and contracts. With sharply lower aerodynamic drag, satellites have less trouble staying in orbit— a good thing. On the other hand, space junk tends to accumulate, making the space around Earth a more dangerous place for astronauts.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
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