Posted on 06/14/2011 11:56:14 AM PDT by TaraP
Astronomers will unveil a "major result" on Tuesday (June 14) regarding the sun's 11-year sunspot cycle.
The announcement will be made at a solar physics conference in New Mexico, according to an alert released today (June 10) by the American Astronomical Society. The discussion will begin at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).
Sunspots are blotches on the sun that appear dark because they are significantly cooler than the rest of the solar surface. While they look small from our vantage point on Earth, these enigmatic structures can be huge — up to 30,000 miles (48,280 kilometers) across, or as wide as the planet Neptune. Sunspots last for a few days or weeks before dissipating.
Sunspots are of interest to astronomers because they serve as an indicator of solar activity, which waxes and wanes in an 11-year cycle. In fact, scientists map out this cycle based on sunspot numbers.
Currently, the sun is in the midst of its Solar Cycle 24, the 24th cycle since observations began.
Recently, the sun has begun rousing itself from an extended quiescent period. Over the past several months, our star has unleashed several immensely powerful flares and sent huge volumes of solar plasma rocketing toward Earth, in massive eruptions known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
In the near future, the flares and CMEs should get more frequent and more intense. Researchers predict that solar activity will peak sometime in 2013 or 2014.
Return to SPACE.com Tuesday for the results of the sunspot study announcement.
Can you get a burning permit to use it?
The sun is going to bloat and turn red and we are going to live out the stories in The Dying Earth.
Another explosion on the sun today..
http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/browse//2011/06/14/ahead/cor2/512/20110614_092424_d7c2A.jpg
Of course, this means global cooling. Meanwhile the EPA and the Australian Labor government are still running around trying to control “greenhouse gas emission” on the plea that we must “do something” about “global warming”.
It is like the world tipped over, and people are sitting on their heads!
That has to be one of the most groan-worthy puns I have ever read on FR.
I salute you.
I Helios-ute you, sir, for you more subtle pun.
Jack Vance is one of my favourite authors. For other red bloated suns of the far future, see Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, and Clark Ashton Smith’s tales of Zothique. But the Dying Earth of Vance does it the best. Plus you have exchanges like this:
“What are your fees?” inquired Guyal cautiously.
“I respond to three questions,” stated the augur. “For twenty terces I phrase the answer in clear and actionable language; for ten I use the language of cant, which occasionally admits of ambiguity; for five, I speak a parable which you must interpret as you will; and for one terce, I babble in an unknown tongue.”
Obama is obviously some sort of deodand.
Freegards, the concept is nuncapatory.
I was curious if anybody would recognize the reference. Believe it or not, I just read it for the first time last year.
I’m going to have to track down some other Jack Vance books.
Paging Al Gore.
Nope, that is nine minutes.
Here’s the theory:
http://www.fakeclimate.com/arquivos/Internacional/HenrikSvensmark/svensmark_96_variations%20of.pdf
That study is fine, but short on the data series it uses because we don’t have many solar cycles of cloud cover data. In other words it’s a still a hypothetical theory. And even after reading that, the only thing I gather is that we’ll have more cloud cover and longer-lasting clouds—based on the theory. I’m not sure what that means for heat retention and heat gathering. Generally clouds reflect more insolation than they trap heat?
But the study was of oceanic clouds. Clouds over continents may well behave differently.
“The sun went nova eight minutes ago. Film at eleven.”
Well, at least that explains why all the spf70 sunscreen was sold out when I went to the drugstore earlier today.
1) in warm countries decrease in sunspots is accompanied by more revolutions
2) in cold countries increase in sunspots is accompanied by more revolutions.
The last sunspot minimum was 2009. That was the year of the revolution in Iran. They have been increasing very slowly since then and are still very low, and have been accompanied by the Moslim revolutions.
“Film at 11:00:00.000. Nothing at 11:00:00.001.”
Here’s a general write-up:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19Vance-t.html
He’s in his mid 90’s, and has been blind for a while now. The cat can write like no one else though. I have finally pretty much read the whole catalogue. Abe books is awesome for getting cheap used books.
I can’t recommend Vance enough, never read a dog from him, and I’ve pretty much read them all.
Freegards
Regarding clouds and heat, the primary source of heat is the sun. Clouds reflect solar energy back into space. Far more than is trapped by them. It is much the same when volcanoes erupt spewing dust in into the atmosphere cooling the planet though I'd guess clouds are better reflectors.
The mega currents between Sun and Earth are relatively new discoveries. We’ve only started understanding and measuring their dynamics. They are a factor in but not the same as the cosmic ray infux.
The sunspot quieting, for which we do have a good amount of historic data, does suggest serious cooling.
In any case, banning incandescent lightbulbs is both tyrannical and stupid, as we need MORE trapping of heat, not less. We also have to get cows to fart more.
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