Sunspots could be seen by the Soho telescope in 2001 (l), but not this year (r)
Posted on 04/21/2009 10:28:59 AM PDT by KayEyeDoubleDee
Sunspots could be seen by the Soho telescope in 2001 (l), but not this year (r)
There are no sunspots, very few solar flares - and our nearest star is the quietest it has been for a very long time.
The observations are baffling astronomers, who are due to study new pictures of the Sun, taken from space, at the UK National Astronomy Meeting.
The Sun normally undergoes an 11-year cycle of activity. At its peak, it has a tumultuous boiling atmosphere that spits out flares and planet-sized chunks of super-hot gas. This is followed by a calmer period.
Last year, it was expected that it would have been hotting up after a quiet spell. But instead it hit a 50-year year low in solar wind pressure, a 55-year low in radio emissions, and a 100-year low in sunspot activity...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
That is because they are failing to use the "new scientific method" developed by the leftists.
1) Decide what business needs targeting...
2) Postulate a theory as to how that business is causing the problem...
3) Announce that no serious scientist disagrees with you.
Another idea I find interesting and, perhaps explains what's going on. Are you ready? Don't flame me and call me a kook!
The sun (and all the other stars) is NOT a nuclear reaction, but instead, an electrical one.
Prior to Einstein's involvement in physics in the mid 20th century, there were many physicists who theorized this might be the case. Tesla was one those men. Prior to Einstein, Physics was a science dominated by objective experimentation of observable phenomena. Much of the research was pointing to the presence of a universal field of energy (ionized particles existing everywhere). Some, like Tesla, believed we would eventually be able to tap into this field for our electrical energy needs.
Einstein, primarily a Mathematician at heart, transformed the study of physics into a mathematical endeavor, with proofs being mathematical rather than experimentally testable. Because of the success of his methodology in the field of atomic energy, Einstein became almost a demigod to both academicians and the public alike.
However, now, even his most famous theory “Relativity” is starting to show inconsistencies with the universe as we've been able to better observe it in the years since his death.
As a result, the mathematical-physicists have had to invent new concepts such as “dark matter” to try to make the theory still work.
Some physicists are returning to the idea of a predominately electric universe theory, and they claim that theory matches up with the observed phenomena perfectly.
How does all this relate to the solar cycles? The field of ionized particles (now observed) in space, while universal, is not of constant density, (much like a visible fog thins and thickens as you move through it). As our star orbits around the galactic center, it passes through varying field density. This field is the source of the sun's energy which behaves more like an electrical node than a nuclear furnace. The sun dims or brightens in accordance with the field density.
BUMP FOR LATER
You obviously didn’t read it carefully. Go back and try again. If you still have problems, let me know.
The high-energy photons (gamma rays) released in fusion reactions are absorbed in only a few millimeters of solar plasma and then re-emitted again in random direction (and at slightly lower energy)—so it takes a long time for radiation to reach the Sun's surface. Estimates of the "photon travel time" range between 10,000 and 170,000 years.
The movie was based on a book by Neil Gaiman. The cross-dressing captain was not in the book, that was a Hollywierd add-on. I liked the book better.
Oh my God! We’re all going to freeze to death.
___________
Stop it! lol When I was in elementary school, one of my teachers told us what would happen if the sun burned out. How we would all be frozen in place. It scared me for years. haha
I would argue astronomers are not baffled, and believe the current absence to be part of the normal historical cycle.
This part from the article as a stand-alone phrase is rather like saying that Mt Rushmore is growing whiskers:
“In the mid-17th Century, a quiet spell - known as the Maunder Minimum - lasted 70 years, and led to a “mini ice-age”.
This has resulted in some people suggesting that a similar cooling might offset the impact of climate change.”
They preach it.
They demand that it be taught.
They insist that it is a fact.
But when it comes down to brass tacks, they don't believe a word of it.
Depends on what the article was referring to at the time. You lifted each of these statements totally out of their context.
"the effect is so small that it has very little impact on the weather and climate on Earth."
Here they are referring to the hotter regions on the Sun's surface which often accompany sunspots. Sunspots themselves are cooler than the surrounding solar surface. That's why they appear dark. The theorized climate relationship involves *magnetic* changes on the Sun. Not greater amounts of heat being produced by the Sun during sunspot outbreaks.
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"the number of sunspots (through association with active regions) may influence the climate"
Several mechanisms at play here. One involves the production of the greenhouse gas ozone (O3) in Earth's atmosphere via increased solar activity and increased ultra-violet radiation.
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"the net result is a heating of the Earth"
This would be the case if there were more high-level, Sirius-type clouds being produced via galactic cosmic ray interactions with atmospheric particles (in our atmosphere).
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"so the net result is cooling"
This would be the case if more low-level, thick, sunlight-blocking cumulus-type clouds are being produced via galactic cosmic ray interactions with atmospheric particles (in our atmosphere). The researchers that I linked to believe the solar activity-cosmic ray-cloud formation-Earth climate connection involves the production of these types of clouds (thick, low-level sunlight-blocking clouds) And so when the Sun is magnetically active (around sunspot cycle peaks), less of these cooling clouds form, more sunlight reaches the Earth and the surface warms *naturally*.
Except for the Gore effect, this is the basics from the Annenberg Project:
http://www.learner.org/interactives/weather/iceandsnow2.html
Michael Faraday famously once said “...the universe is either empty or full...” — which allows no empty spaces or clumps alongside voids.
Cirrus clouds are not radios.
My brother farms in southwest Oklahoma. Recently, he said that a late freeze had damaged his wheat crop. Later, I heard that the wheat crop in Oklahoma may be down about 90% due to a hard freeze. It looks like we are in for a cooling trend no matter what CO2 levels are.
Lol! I did write "Sirius", didn't I? Being an amateur astronomer I mixed up "cirrus" the clouds with "Sirius" the star! Oh well. Thanks for the correction.
Thank you. I’m guilty of “scanning” the article and seeing what appeared to be conflicting statements. I do believe Sol has more effect on our climate than humans do. I usually look at stars much further way with my 8” equatorial clock-driven scope.
And I'm guilty of overreacting to your very reasonable questions.
I do believe Sol has more effect on our climate than humans do.
The sunspot-climate link appears to involves the increased magnetic activity associated with sunspots and other solar phenomenon rather than increased amounts of heat being released by the Sun.
Your an amateur astronomer? Great!
Off subject slightly, thought you may be interested
I took this image last weekend of the Great Globular Star Cluster in the Constellation Hercules.
It's located approximately 25,000 light years from earth, and has several hundred thousand suns or stars.
I obtaind this image with a series of 12-60 second exposures, aligned and stacked in DSS.
Image taken with a Canon 40D, mounted on a LX200 10", w/6.3 focal reducer.
A new light pollution filters was installed in the imaging camera, and seems to work really well.
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