Strange Doings on the Sun

WSJ ^ | Nov. 10, 2013 7:25 p.m. ET | Robert Lee Hotz

[BenLurkin]

To complicate the riddle, the sun also is undergoing one of its oddest magnetic reversals on record.

Normally, the sun's magnetic north and south poles change polarity every 11 years or so. During a magnetic-field reversal, the sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, drop to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. As far as scientists know, the magnetic shift is notable only because it signals the peak of the solar maximum, said Douglas Biesecker at NASA's Space Environment Center.

But in this cycle, the sun's magnetic poles are out of sync, solar scientists said. The sun's north magnetic pole reversed polarity more than a year ago, so it has the same polarity as the south pole.

[dfwgator]

Strange Doings on the Sun

What is it?

[txrefugee]

Signs in the heavens. Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus!

[Ken522]

... we are in trouble now!

[PistolPaknMama]

I just realized I have a headache. :)

[BenLurkin]

Oops. Excerpted a bit more than I intended:

Scientists say that solar activity is stranger than in a century or more, with the sun producing barely half the number of sunspots as expected and its magnetic poles oddly out of sync.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Wow. Both poles are south. Where did north go?

[JRandomFreeper]

Wandering around all over the place, I imagine. Our north pole moves around quiet a bit here on planet Dirt.

/johnny

[bayliving]

It’s Bush’s fault!

[BenLurkin]

Based on my very elementary understanding of science — there has to be a North somewhere!

[RayChuang88]

Is this a precursor to another Maunder Minimum situation, where the sunspot activity drops to essentially zero for decades? That could be bad news for food production, since much of the world's climate at higher latitudes may make Canada, northern Europe and much of Russia unusable for agriculture.

[al baby]

At the West Kartrasian household

[MestaMachine]

“Wow. Both poles are south. Where did north go?”

South.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Mine is elementary also. Maybe it is in the center and the sun is getting ready to split in half.

[dfwgator]

Both poles are south. Where did north go?

Poland?

[JRandomFreeper]

Not only that, colder historically has meant dryer, also impacting agriculture. Our current world system can handle warming MUCH better than cooling.

/johnny

[AppyPappy]

Keep your eye on Grover’s Mill, NJ

[Cold Heart]

Managed to get “global warming” in the article. I guess they have to do that if they want to get published or get hits on search engines.

[txhurl]

Does it have to do it NOW?

[cripplecreek]

The solar magnetic field is pretty complex with only a general north south orientation. Basically it has poles all over the place.

I saw a good show about the earth’s magnetic field on the Science channel the other day.