[JustDoItAlways]

Pretty big sunspot for this time nearing the down in the 11 year cycle.

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/mdi_igr/512/

Considering there was a period of at least 100 years during the little ice age when there were no sunspots at all, clearly the Sun is putting out more energy in this 11 year cycle than it did then.

[Crazieman]

Holy crap that thing is the size of Jupiter

[NRA2BFree]

Pretty big sunspot for this time nearing the down in the 11 year cycle.

NASA

Considering there was a period of at least 100 years during the little ice age when there were no sunspots at all, clearly the Sun is putting out more energy in this 11 year cycle than it did then.

Thanks for the link. That sunspot is a whopper! I got interested in solar flares in 1998 and the cycle was supposed to end in 2000, but they're still going, and like you say, they're getting much stronger. It will be interesting to see when this cycle does end. They sure are hard on cell phone users, like me. I hate dropping calls. :o)

[i_dont_chat]

I thought the 11-year cycle was supposed to end about 6 years ago. This cycle is much longer than expected. So there is no telling HOW MUCH LONGER this cycle will last.

[Plutarch]

Pretty big sunspot for this time nearing the down in the 11 year cycle.

How do we know what is happening on the side of the sun we don't see? Might it be hopping with spots while our side is quiescent, and visa versa?