Still no sunspots...

[modest]

Also, this thread is intended to discuss the seemingly unusual lack of sunspots and solar activity, and it is preferable that we not spiral off into another discussion on the merits of AGW here.

 

 

I'm personally rooting for their return now that I've read Turtle's link:

 

 

History of Sunspot Observations

...Large sunspots can sometimes be seen with the naked eye, especially when the Sun is viewed through fog near the horizon at sunrise or sunset...

 

I'm sure I'll go blind for my efforts, but I gotta catch me a glimpse :eek:

 

~modest

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

:shrug:

 

I'm personally rooting for their return now that I've read Turtle's link:

 

 

 

I'm sure I'll go blind for my efforts, but I gotta catch me a glimpse :)

 

~modest

Hit up your nearest store that sells welding supplies

Buy either a set of goggles or a welding helmet or just the filter it will save your eyes and allow you to see the sun better...At a minimum you want a shade 5 filter.....NO LESS THAN A SHADE 5!!!!!!!!!!!!! An 8 would be preferable......they are cheap and will last you a lifetime if cared for.....We're talkin like $5-$20 typically...Skip the auto-dark type filters they while super cool (cuz they go from lightly tinted to black in no time flat) tend to not stay dark when aimed at a continuously bright light source.

[modest]

Thanks DD. That is very sage advice indeed. I'll let my girlfriend know she's got one more gift to buy :shrug:

 

Used in conjunction with a telescopic lens, maybe I can get some good pics to post...

 

~modest

[freeztar]

Another option is to project the image of the sun onto a piece of paper. We did this in my astronomy class and were able to draw the sunspots on the piece of paper. It's even possible to track sunspot movement with this method. :shrug:

 

Do-it-yourself Sunspot Watching

[Turtle]

Great viewing info peeps! :Glasses: We may get a chance to employ them in the next couple days. :smilingsun:

 

NEW SUNSPOTS:

This morning, Dec. 24th, NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft photographed a pair of active regions emerging in the sun's southern hemisphere. Clouds of hot glowing gas detected by STEREO's extreme UV telescope probably mask a pair of new-cycle sunspots underneath:

 

The clouds and spots are not yet visible from Earth. STEREO-B is stationed over the sun's eastern limb where it can see things up to three days before the sun's rotation turns them toward our planet. So, consider this a sneak preview.

 

Readers, if you have a solar telescope, keep an eye on the eastern limb. Something is coming. ETA: Dec. 26th.

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

[Turtle]

Those spots never came to much. :turtle: Here's a couple press releases:

 

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

January 4, 2009

SOLAR CYCLE UPDATE: Final sunspot counts for the year 2008 are now available and the numbers are very low. The sun was utterly blank--that is, it had no sunspots whatsoever--on 266 days last year. That makes 2008 a century-class year in terms of low sunspot numbers. To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go all the way back to 1913, which had 311 spotless days. Now for the good news: Evidence is mounting that the deep solar minimum of 2008 is coming to an end; we can expect a livelier sun in 2009.

 

NASA - The Sun Shows Signs of Life

Old Solar Cycle 23 peaked in 2000 and has since decayed to low levels. Meanwhile' date=' new Solar Cycle 24 has struggled to get started. 2008 is a year of overlap with both cycles weakly active at the same time. From January to September, the sun produced a total of 22 sunspot groups; 82% of them belonged to old Cycle 23. October added five more; but this time 80% belonged to Cycle 24. The tables have turned....[/quote']

[REASON]

Any idea how they are able to determine which cycle is responsible for the development of new spots during this transitionary period?

[Turtle]

Any idea how they are able to determine which cycle is responsible for the development of new spots during this transitionary period?

 

Roger. New cycle susnpots start appearing N & S of the equator and the magnetic polarity of the spots is reversed from one cycle to the next. :lightning

 

...most regions of strong magnetic fields are grouped in pairs of opposite polarities; furthermore, at any given time the ordering of positive/negative regions with respect to the E---W direction (the direction of rotation, from left to right on these images) is the same in a given hemisphere, but is reversed from northern to southern hemispheres. This was first determined observationally in the first decade of the 20 century by G.H. Hale, and is known as Hale's Polarity Law. Shortly after this discovery, ongoing studies of the magnetic polarities of sunspot pairs by Hale and collaborators revealed yet another intriguing pattern: from one sunspot cycle to the next, the magnetic polarities of sunspot pairs undergo a reversal in each hemisphere. This polarity reversal pattern is apparent on this slide.

Hale's sunspot polarity law

 

... New-cycle sunspots almost always pop up at mid-latitudes, around 30o N or 30o S....

NASA - Backward Sunspot

[Turtle]

today we had a cycle 24 sunspot, although it didn't last. here's the SOHO magnetogram showing its polarity and while not mentioned, notice it is considerably south of the equator. :)

 

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2009/07jan09/jan7sunspot_2.jpg?PHPSESSID=48r45o2i4gga34f1e4mojgr7r6

[Turtle]

a little sunspot popped up today and it's a weirdo. :doh:

 

A new sunspot is emerging inside the circle region--and it is a strange one. The low latitude of the spot suggests it is a member of old Solar Cycle 23, yet the magnetic polarity of the spot is ambiguous, identifying it with neither old Solar Cycle 23 nor new Solar Cycle 24. Stay tuned for updates as the sunspot grows. Credit: SOHO/MDI

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

[Turtle]

No spots of import that I noticed since last report 3 weeks ago, but we have an active spot today that is a cycle 23 puppy. :blahblahblah: :doh: :hihi:

 

SOLAR ACTIVITY: Sunspot 1012 is crackling with B-class solar flares. Yesterday, Feb. 12th at 1625 UT, one such eruption propelled a "solar tsunami" through the sun's lower atmosphere. An ultraviolet telescope onboard NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft recorded the faint yet powerful wave: http://www.spaceweather.com/images2009/12feb09/stereob_195_big.gif?PHPSESSID=3j9efke5vet3tgita20dnnlv45

 

The low latitude and magnetic polarity of this sunspot identify it as a member of old Solar Cycle 23. It is, in other words, a fossil, albeit a relatively active one. Stay tuned for more flares.

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

[freeztar]

Final Callege to The GW Crowd.

 

Please list the eras of mass extinction attributed to Global Warming.

 

litespeed,

 

This thread is about sunspots. This includes sunspot occurrences, observations, etc.

 

If you have a qualm with AGW, then it should be addressed in a more appropriate thread.

 

http://hypography.com/forums/environmental-studies/13705-my-belief-global-warming-getting-shaky.html

 

Thanks! :(

[Turtle]

:)

 

Daily Sun: 20 Feb 09

 

The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI

 

[freeztar]

no sunspots.

 

I see several spots!

 

Wait...let me clean my screen...Yep, they're gone... :)

[max4236]

The sun must be in a spring cleaning mood. Looks spiffy.

[Turtle]

Daily Sun: 05 Mar 09 :eek2:

 

The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI

 

[Buffy]

 

I saw that eyeshadow at Nordstrom yesterday! :phones:

 

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion, :shrug:

Buffy