solar maximum

Wow: a big solar eruption

http://youtu.be/KsSqCN57fAM The sun has been very active over the past few years; as I wrote in August 2010 the prolonged “solar minimum” period meant that the maximum period which follows would be delayed somewhat beyond the predicted 2012 date. Solar cycles tend to last anywhere between 9 and 14 years, but they average about 11 years. Most astronomers now say that the current solar maximum cycle will peak in late 2013, thereby relieving the stress of doomsday predictions which suggest that a breakdown of the electrical grid could cause the predicted end of the world in 2012.

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By |2018-06-11T11:09:41-04:00April 17th, 2012|Astronomy|2 Comments

The Sun is definitely waking up

After a prolonged “solar minimum,”  with record long periods without sunspots, the Sun has become extremely active again.  These periods of solar maximum alternating with solar minimum are a normal part of solar activity but the last solar minimum was particularly long: 12.4 years rather than the usual 11 years.

A positive effect of the delay in the return of sunspot activity is that the maximum period will not coincide with December 2012 as previously feared.  This was one of the explanations for the fearmongering surrounding the […]

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By |2019-05-11T07:35:27-04:00August 3rd, 2010|Astronomy|Comments Off on The Sun is definitely waking up

The Sun is waking up


solar flare
Recent solar flare

Solar scientists met last week to discuss the higher levels of solar activity that are likely as we move out of the Solar Minimum of the past few years.  The head of NASA’s Heliophysics Division says “our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms.”

Spaceweather reports an M2-class flare on June 12th that hurled a billion-ton coronal mass ejection into space, and a new sunspot has emerged with a series of its own eruptions.   Solar flares have […]

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By |2018-06-11T12:14:04-04:00June 13th, 2010|Astronomy|1 Comment
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