Two new Sunspots are Forming

The pair of spots are easier to see on this magnetic map.

Credit: SOHO/MDI

Scientists are not saying if these spots are Cycle 23 or 24.

Two spots at the same time is a good sign. We have not seen this much

activity for months.

My website is UP

Check it out at http://fileserver.art.utah.edu/~jlimb

NASA to Discuss Conditions On And Surrounding the Sun

NASA has scheduled a meeting for today at 12:30 p.m. EDT.
They are going to discuss the data from NASA and European Space Agency Ulysses mission.
This data will show that the solar wind is at a 50-year low.

The sun's current condition could result in changing conditions in the solar system. -NASA

THIS COULD BE AN END TO THE FAKE GLOBAL WARMING. -ME

My wife got upset at me last night for talking about the stock market and the cold sun.
She said that I always talk about bad things before we go to bed and then she can't sleep.
We have never seen these major changes in our lifetimes.

This small Sunspot is being classified as a member of cycle 24.
Image credit: SOHO/MDI

My New Website

This is my new website project for my writing for new media class.

http://fileserver.art.utah.edu/~jlimb/Welcome.html

I will be updating it this weekend, it will be completed by next Tuesday.

On a lighter note, no activity from the Sun.

21 SunSpots this Year

The Sun has continued to be quiet. We have seen only 21 Sunspots this year.

I am predicting an unusually cold winter.

From Jan. 2007 to Jan. 2008 the global temperature dropped .595 Celsius that is a 1.071 Fahrenheit drop.

I am curious to see the results in January of 2009.

I hope you enjoyed the harvest moon.

The full moon nearest the autumnal equinox (about September 23). Near the time of the autumnal equinox, the angle of the moon’s orbit relative to the Earth’s horizon is at its minimum, causing the full moon to rise above the horizon much faster than usual. Since the difference of the moon’s rising time on successive nights barely varies, the moon appears to rise at nearly the same hour for several nights in succession. Because the harvest moon, like any full moon, must rise near the hour of sunset, harvest workers in the Northern Hemisphere may be aided by bright moonlight after sunset on several successive evenings. A similar effect is observed in corresponding southern latitudes around March 21. -www.britannica.com

We Have a SunSpot!

Sunspot 1001 is small, but large enough to get a number.

Here is something interesting. The Mars lander photographed some small dust devils.

The whirlwind in this animation is approximately five meters in diameter. - NASA

The Solar Winds are Blowing

People up in Canada and Iceland are getting some beautiful Aurora photos. The Sun may not be active on the surface, but the Solar winds sure are bringing in some lovely September green.


See more in the Aurora Photo Gallery




What is an Aurora?

Auroras are produced by the collision of charged particles from Earth's magnetosphere, mostly electrons but also protons and heavier particles, with atoms and molecules of Earth's upper atmosphere (at altitudes above 80 km (50 miles). The particles have energies of 1 to 100 keV. They originate from the Sun and arrive at the vicinity of Earth in the relatively low-energy solar wind. When the trapped magnetic field of the solar wind is favourably oriented (principally southwards) it reconnects with Earth's magnetic field, and solar particles enter the magnetosphere and are swept to the magnetotail. Further magnetic reconnection accelerates the particles towards Earth.
The collisions in the atmosphere electronically excite atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere. The excitation energy can be lost by light emission or collisions. Most aurorae are green and red emission from atomic oxygen. Molecular nitrogen and nitrogen ions produce some low level red and very high blue/violet aurorae. The light blue colors are produced by ionic nitrogen and the neutral nitrogen gives off the red and purple color with the rippled edges. Different gases interacting with the upper atmosphere will produce different colors, caused by the different compounds of oxygen and nitrogen. The level of solar wind activity from the Sun can also influence the color of the aurorae.


The Sun is Blank again.

The Sun Sets a New Record

A full month with no sunspots!

This lack of activity has not been seen for nearly a century. According to data from Mount Wilson Observatory, UCLA, it has been an entire month without a sunspot. The last time this happened was June of 1913.

After this news hit the Internet the NOAA scoured the month of August photos and came up with this blemish which the United States Government is now calling a sunspot, thus trying to nullify this record.

[ Aug. 21, 2008 - Look for the tiny black dot in the upper right quadrant. ]

Seven years ago...
[ Aug. 21, 2001 - Look for the big black spots....These are real sunspots! ]

So you made it through Sunspots 101

[ The sun is blank, again. ]

NASA says that the lack of solar activity is completely normal. "There have been some reports lately that Solar Minimum is lasting longer than it should. That's not true. The ongoing lull in sunspot number is well within historic norms for the solar cycle." - David Hathaway solar physicist

"The sun is now near the low point of its 11-year activity cycle," says Hathaway. "We call this 'Solar Minimum.' It is the period of quiet that separates one Solar Max from another."

The problems with solar minimums is sometimes they last a long time. The Maunder minimum lasted from 1645 to 1715. This period of low sunspot activity coincided with the Little Ice Age.

So we might want to think about starting some Global Warming.

Sunspots?

What are Sunspots?

A dark patch on the surface of the sun. Sunspots usually occur in clusters and last about two weeks. The number of visible sunspots fluctuates in an eleven-year cycle. It has been suggested that the sun is 1% cooler when it has no spots, and that this variation in solar radiation might affect the climates of the earth. - Geographical Dictionary

Who discovered Sunspots?

Galileo Galilei discovered sunspots in 1612 with the use of his new version of the Telescope. While peering at the sun he discovered the small dark spots and named them sunspots. For more information watch this Video by NOVA.

So what does this have to do with the world today?

The sunspots come in cycles. We are supposed to be in Cycle 24 by now and should be seeing a increase in sunspot activity. Unfortunately the sun has been very quite for the past 3 years. The end of Cycle 23 was predicted to be Nov. of 2005. Instead of an increase in activity we are still in a low and scientists are calling the spots we are seeing as end Cycle 23.

The sun is blank today with absolutely no activity.