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Amateur astronomer and Florida resident Howard Eskildsen snapped an image of the "light bridge"—which has a length that's roughly equal to the diameter of Mars—in a recently formed sunspot dubbed AR2770, spaceweather.com reported. These phenomena are caused by strong magnetic field concentrations, which inhibit convection—the transfer of heat from one place to another within gases and liquids. This process heats the solar surface. Hot "bubbles" of plasma—charged particles that are one of the four fundamental states of matter—are transported from deeper, hotter layers to the surface, whereas cooler plasma is transported back to the interior... According to Felipe, light bridges...

The cycle may result in dramatic space weather that could disrupt communications and power grids here on Earth. Two new sunspots have ended a long period of relative quiet on the surface of our blazing host star, heralding the start of a new 11-year cycle of sunspot activity — resulting in sometimes dramatic space weather that could disrupt communications and power grids here on Earth. The two new sunspots, designated as NOAA 2753 and 2754, were seen on Dec. 24 by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory — a satellite that monitors the exterior and interior of the sun from a geosynchronous...

As of November 1st, the current stretch of days without any observable sunspots in solar cycle 24 has reached a total of 228 spotless days in 2019 so far That’s 75% of the year so far. During the 2008 solar minimum, there were 268 days without sunspots, or 73% of the year. The sun as seen by the Solar Dynamics Observatory on Oct 31 2019 Here’s a tally of spotless days for the last solar cycle: 2019 total: 228 days (75%) 2018 total: 221 days (61%) 2017 total: 104 days (28%) 2016 total: 32 days (9%) 2015 total: 0 days...

...why is its outer atmosphere hotter than its fiery surface? University of Michigan researchers believe they have the answer, and hope to prove it with help from NASA's Parker Solar Probe. In roughly two years, the probe will be the first manmade craft to enter the zone surrounding the sun where heating looks fundamentally different than what has previously been seen in space. This will allow them to test their theory that the heating is due to small magnetic waves travelling back and forth within the zone... Such high temperatures cause the solar atmosphere to swell to many times the...

One of the big questions in solar physics is why the Sun's activity follows a regular cycle of 11 years. Researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), an independent German research institute, now present new findings, indicating that the tidal forces of Venus, Earth and Jupiter influence the solar magnetic field, thus governing the solar cycle.

Eruptions from the face of our star are called ‘prominences’ and cause vast amounts of superhot gas to shoot into space, often forming beautiful loops on the solar surface. During the solar minimum, the number of flares and sunspots is dramatically reduced. When the sun leaps back from its minimum after roughly 11 years, we’re likely to see more and more ferocious explosions on the sun. Nasa warned: ‘After our Sun passes the current Solar Minimum, solar activity like eruptive prominences are expected to become more common over the next few years.’ The space agency has just released dramatic pictures...

A leading pioneer in the study of Grand Solar Minima and their effects on the planet has been solar physicist Professor Valentina Zharkova of Northumbria University. She has been attacked savagely for her theory that the weakened solar magnetosphere during a Grand Solar Minimum is the main factor in driving global cooling on Earth, but she is increasingly being vindicated as global cooling progresses. Recently, Professor Zharkova gave a lecture to the Global Warming Policy Foundation. You can view the lecture below, but it’s heavy-going. Here’s a summary of her main points: • The solar magnetosphere is key to understanding...

Recent research by Professor Valentina Zharkova (Northumbria University) and colleagues has shed new light on the inner workings of the Sun. If correct, this new discovery means that future solar cycles and variations in the Sun’s activity can be predicted more accurately. The research suggests that the next three solar cycles will see solar activity reduce significantly into the middle of the century, producing conditions similar to those last seen in the 1600s – during the Maunder Minimum. This may have implications for temperatures here on Earth. Future solar cycles will serve as a test of the astrophysicists’ work, but...

Make the most of this summer because it could be your last decent one: winter is coming as the planet enters the most devastating cooling period since the 65-year Maunder Minimum of the 17th and early 18th centuries. This is the dire forecast of Professor Valentina Zharkova, a solar physicist at Northumbria University, who has based her prediction on sun spot activity – known to be a significant driver of global climate – which is currently very low and likely to get even lower during the next three solar cycles. She has spoken about her research and her battle to get it taken...

One hundred fifty-nine years ago, our sun belched out a sea of charged particles aimed at Earth. It sped toward us at millions of miles per hour, walloping the planet hard enough to addle the world's telegraph systems and bring the northern lights as far south as Jamaica. Damage from the solar storm, called the Carrington Event, was pretty limited — chiefly because the world didn't have a lot of very long wires that are susceptible to disruption. But that was then, and a massive solar storm will come our way again. That's because the sun is constantly convulsing with...

A massive "hole" on the surface of the sun has unleashed a strong solar wind that scientists say may amp up the northern lights in some areas of the U.S. and could disrupt satellite communications over the next few days. Data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory revealed a vast region where the sun's magnetic field has opened up, creating a gap in the sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona. This region, also known as a coronal hole, allows charged particles to escape and flow toward Earth in an increased solar wind. As a result, the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center...

Such storms only occur occasionally but result in a massive spike in geomagnetic activity and radiation. For driverless vehicles which rely heavily on GPS, this could cause mayhem as the connection between a GPS system and the satellites could be cut off. In theory, disaster could follow on the roads. According to Scott McIntosh, director of the high-altitude observatory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, using GPS heavily in programming a driverless car from Point A to Point B is an issue. ... Fortunately, there are systems in place to avoid truly disastrous scenarios. In fact,...

Lead author, Henrik Svensmark, from The Technical University of Denmark has long held that climate models had greatly underestimated the impact of solar activity. He says the new research identified the feedback mechanism through which the sun’s impact on climate was varied. Professor Svensmark’s theories on solar impact have caused a great deal of controversy within the climate science community and the latest findings are sure to provoke new outrage. He does not dispute that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have a warming impact on the climate. But his findings present a challenge to estimates of how...

Solar minimum surprisingly constantMore than half a century of observation yields new discoveryNATIONAL INSTITUTES OF NATURAL SCIENCESUsing more than half a century of observations, Japanese astronomers have discovered that the microwaves coming from the Sun at the minimums of the past five solar cycles have been the same each time, despite large differences in the maximums of the cycles.Solar microwave observation telescopes in 1957 (top left) and today (bottom left). Fluctuations observed during 60 years of solar microwave monitoring (top right) and the solar microwave spectrum at each solar minimum (bottom right). The background is full solar disk images...

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The mysterious closure of a solar observatory in southern New Mexico earlier this month happened after the FBI started opened a child pornography investigation involving a janitor’s computer found at the observatory and agents tracked wireless signals used to access child porn, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit filed in federal court. The mountaintop Sunspot Solar Observatory closed for from Sept. 6 to Sept. 17 but the research association that manages it has said only that an unspecified security issue was the reason for the closure. The facility employs a small group of scientists, researchers and...

Our sun has been behaving very strangely, and this unusual behavior is really starting to affect our weather patterns. There have been virtually no sunspots in 2018 as solar activity has dropped to alarmingly low levels. As a result, our atmosphere has been cooling and shrinking, and experts are warning that we are heading for a bitterly, bitterly cold winter. And even though the official start of winter is well over a month away, winter weather is already sweeping the nation. As you will see below, a giant winter storm is about to slam into the east coast, but what...

Powerful Solar Storm Likely Detonated Sea Mines During Vietnam War By Brett Carter | November 9, 2018 3:46 pm Solar flares captured on sun. (Credit: NASA/SDO)On Aug. 4, 1972, the crew of a U.S. Task Force 77 aircraft flying near a naval minefield in the waters off Hon La observed 20 to 25 explosions over about 30 seconds. They also witnessed an additional 25 to 30 mud spots in the waters nearby.Destructor sea mines had been deployed here during Operation Pocket Money, a mining campaign launched in 1972 against principal North Vietnamese ports.There was no obvious reason why the mines...

Freak changes in the composition of space around the sun are about to drive a chain of meteorological events locking the UK into a savage early Arctic freeze, it has been claimed. The so-called solar corona has become dotted with holes on its Earth-facing side threatening serious knock-on effects to the flow of the jet stream and the weather this winter. Temperatures are expected to nosedive towards the end of October bringing ‘substantial snowfall’ across Scotland, northern and central England. It could herald the start of a four-month Polar assault with snow and sub-zero temperatures threatening to grip the nation...