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Suddenly, the sun is eerily quiet: Where did the sunspots go?
Los Angeles Times ^ | Jul 21, 2014 by | Deborah Netburn,

Posted on 07/22/2014 11:30:01 PM PDT by BenLurkin

A few weeks ago it was teeming with sunspots, as you would expect since we are supposed to be in the middle of solar maximum -- the time in the sun's 11-year cycle when it is the most active.

But now, there is hardly a sunspot in sight. If you look closely at the image above, taken on July 18 by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, you will see a tiny smidge of brown just right of center where a small sunspot appears to be developing. But just one day before, there truly was nothing. It was a totally spotless day.

...

"It all underlines that solar physicists really don't know what the heck is happening on the sun," Phillips said. "We just don't know how to predict the sun, that is the take away message of this event."

...

And it's not like astronomers have never seen the sun this quiet before. Three years ago, on Aug. 14, 2011, it was completely free of sunspots. And, as Phillips points out, that year turned out to have relatively high solar activity overall with several X-class flares. So in that case, the spotless sun was just a "temporary intermission," as he writes on his website.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Science
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To: BenLurkin

I thought we were in the cycle of solar inactivity........thus the colder weather. I think the author is wrong......


21 posted on 07/23/2014 3:31:42 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (By now, everyone should know that you shoot a zombie in the head. Don't try to reason with them...)
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To: Peter ODonnell

So.........sunspots cause volcanos.

Just kidding!


22 posted on 07/23/2014 5:16:33 AM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

Actually the opposite.


23 posted on 07/23/2014 5:19:27 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Peter ODonnell
Sunspot levels are a rough indicator of the strength of the solar magnetic field. The solar magnetic field deflects extrasolar cosmic rays. A weak solar field allows more cosmic rays to hit the earth.

Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark (professor in the Division of Solar System Physics at the Danish National Space Institute) has a theory that increased cosmic rays hitting the upper atmosphere create more ions, which act as nuclei for cloud formation. More clouds equal more sunlight being reflected, and lower temperatures.

A layman's summary of the theory is here

24 posted on 07/23/2014 5:33:47 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: BenLurkin

Shot down by the Russians?


25 posted on 07/23/2014 5:34:46 AM PDT by Solson (The Voters stole the election! And the establishment wants it back.)
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To: The Cajun
Follow the link if you want to know what is happening and what to expect

http://www.landscheidt.info/?q=node/50

26 posted on 07/23/2014 5:35:51 AM PDT by BillM (.)
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To: BenLurkin
So.........sunspots cause volcanos. Just kidding!

Actually, if the solar magnetic field is shifting, and there's any degree of coupling with the earth's magnetic field, I could see physical effects happening as a result (earthquakes, volcanoes).

Any physicists on the thread care to chime in?

27 posted on 07/23/2014 5:36:32 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: BillM
Hey, thanks for that link, a world of data to digest there.

Have bookmarked the site and plan to do some reading.

28 posted on 07/23/2014 6:17:16 AM PDT by The Cajun (Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Mike Lee, Louie Gohmert....Nuff said.)
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To: MaxMax
Welcome King Barack "Canute" Obama the Great.....

Please don't compare Canute and Obama.

King Canute did this demonstration to prove his point that, although he was a King, he had no power over the elements, and that only God could control them.

29 posted on 07/23/2014 6:17:22 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (Has anyone seen my tagline? It was here yesterday. I seem to have misplaced it.)
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To: Little Pig

Our firewood supplier has a lower supply then usual. Orders in early June were quoted as deliverable by 8/1. That is now extended to 9/1. Reason: Amish source has less than usual, due to less business and Amish source also sells retail firewood.

Our propane supplier hasn’t offered either *summer fill* prices or a locked-in price for years, now. Last year, during the shortage, the price changed daily. Most of us are still paying off winter bills.

For those who switched to electric heat, the cost per KwH increases slowly, but the *facility fee*, the cost of service before any usage at all, increases steadily, month by month. Fees and taxes also increase steadily, albeit in small increments (which add up over time, of course).

Friends in town report high natural gas costs. $350-$500 month combined heat/electric bills are common. The $350 is for a small house turned into a business. The $500 is for a large Victorian, but only two people live there and when they went on a 2-week vacation, the bill barely budged.

The State Media abounds with articles telling us how being cold and sleeping cold both contribute to weight loss.

There is no escape.


30 posted on 07/23/2014 6:20:45 AM PDT by reformedliberal
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To: Hot Tabasco

We’re roughly at sun cycle max just now.

http://www.spaceweather.com

It’s unusual to have spotless days at cyclemax.


31 posted on 07/23/2014 6:21:26 AM PDT by Black Agnes
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To: Hot Tabasco

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/f10.gif

Not sunspots, but a proxy of cycle strength as well.

If the weather is colder at cyclemax, imagine what it will be in 5-6 years when we’re at a cyclemin again.


32 posted on 07/23/2014 6:22:52 AM PDT by Black Agnes
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To: Peter ODonnell
"My personal belief is that greenhouse gases are modifying this complex cycle and we’re going to be glad to have them insulating us from an even worse potential cold turn to our climate in coming years. Then maybe when the sun gets strong and regular again, we’ll be beyond fossil fuels anyway, that could be as early as 2025 or maybe as late as 2045 based on the analogues. Time will tell."

Good, optimistic thinking.

33 posted on 07/23/2014 6:51:55 AM PDT by blam (Jeff Sessions For President)
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To: Peter ODonnell

Any warmth from green house CO2 gas density could be countered by all the black box project the Euroweenies and US have been doing to intentionally cool the planet.


34 posted on 07/23/2014 10:56:47 AM PDT by justa-hairyape (The user name is sarcastic. Although at times it may not appear that way.)
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To: Little Pig

It’s pretty cool for July in Chicago. 65 degrees right now.


35 posted on 07/23/2014 7:44:08 PM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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