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Sept. 27, 2018: The sun is entering one of the deepest Solar Minima of the Space Age. Sunspots have been absent for most of 2018, and the sun’s ultraviolet output has sharply dropped. New research shows that Earth’s upper atmosphere is responding. “We see a cooling trend,” says Martin Mlynczak of NASA’s Langley Research Center. “High above Earth’s surface, near the edge of space, our atmosphere is losing heat energy. If current trends continue, it could soon set a Space Age record for cold.” To help keep track of what’s happening in the thermosphere, Mlynczak and colleagues recently introduced the...

Sunspot Solar Observatory is transitioning back to regular operations as of September 17th On September 6th, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) made the decision to temporarily vacate the Sunspot Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico as a precautionary measure while addressing a security issue. The facility closed down in an orderly fashion and is now re-opening. The residents that vacated their homes will be returning to the site, and all employees will return to work this week. AURA has been cooperating with an on-going law enforcement investigation of criminal...

This is a multi-faceted story, but it comes together to create one large surreal event. I cannot truly give you the answers you will want, but I can put all the pieces of the story on the table. It will be up to you to put them together, or you might never be able to do so. I still do not understand where the truth lies in this scrambled event. On September 7, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) made the decision to suddenly vacate the Sunspot Solar Observatory at Sacramento...

UPDATE 9/12/18 4PM PST The issue may be related to Mercury (the metal, not the planet). On a tip from a science journalist friend who covers telescopes and who has been there, I verified the observatory uses a vat of liquid mercury as a float bearing for the giant solar telescope. According to an internal NSO/NMSU document, that bearing is “high-risk” during maintenance. If there was a major mercury spill, it might explain why the Feds are there, with FBI providing security. The amount of Mercury is said to be in the “tens of gallons” range, which is next to...

In what may be one of the more bizarre stories of 2018 so far, an undisclosed security threat has shut down a solar observatory in New Mexico, and angered local authorities in the process.

SOLAR MINIMUM DEEPENS: The sun has been without sunspots for 32 of the past 33 days. To find a similar stretch of blank suns, you have to go back to 2009 when the sun was experiencing the deepest solar minimum in a century. Solar minimum has returned, bringing extra cosmic rays, long-lasting holes in the sun's atmosphere, and strangely pink auroras. ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION UPDATE: As the sunspot cycle declines, we expect cosmic rays to increase. Is this actually happening? The answer is "yes." Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus have been monitoring cosmic radiation in the atmosphere...

Have you been keeping an eye on Sol lately? One of the top astronomy stories for 2018 may be what’s not happening, and how inactive our host star has become. The strange tale of Solar Cycle #24 is ending with an expected whimper: as of May 8th, the Earthward face of the Sun had been spotless for 73 out of 128 days thus far for 2018, or more than 57% of the time. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, as the solar minimum between solar cycle #23 and #24 saw 260 spotless days in 2009 – the most recorded in a single...

In March our supplier of energy was more inactive than in the previous months. The sunspot number was only 2,5, which is only 8% of what is normal for this month into the average cycle (month 112).Only solar cycles 5 and 6 were weaker. A sunspot was detected only on 6 of 31 days. An observation made on April 10, 2018, allowed us to say that at approximately 30° southern heliospheric latitude the SDO solar research satellite saw a tiny spot (it was too small to be officially counted as a sunspot) that certainly belonged to the next approaching solar...

Dr Casey explains what to expect climate wise, over the years to come. Over 40 minutes long.

In linking to my sunspot update this week, there has been a lot of speculation at the climate website WattsUpWithThat that the next solar cycle has begun...which suggested that this sunspot was the first such sunspot this cycle, was not quite accurate however. This sunspot with an opposite polarity, which decayed so quickly that it did not rate getting a sunspot number, was not the first... The grand minimum of the 1600s, dubbed the Maunder Minimum in honor of the scientist who first identified it, was a century where almost no sunspots were visible. There was no apparent solar cycle....

Is the mini Ice age upon us? If the solar minimum is an indicator, then yes, we may well be entering one. Very long but well worth the watch

There’s a lot of evidence mounting that solar cycle 25 will usher in a new grand solar minimum. Since about October 2005, when the sun’s magnetic activity went into a sharp fall, solar activity has been markedly lower, with solar cycle 24 being the lowest in over 100 years.Interplanetary magnetic field – Image from NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterSolar cycle 24 – Image from NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterDaily observations of the number of sunspots since 1 January 1900 according to Solar Influences Data Analysis Center (SIDC). The thin blue line indicates the daily sunspot number, while the dark blue...

On Sunday night into Monday morning, the Solar Dynamics Observatory Satellite of NASA showed a solar flare on the sun released a coronal mass ejection towards Earth that could impact us on Thursday. The solar flare was not particularly large, but NOAA has issued A G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm watch, in effect for Thursday.  The G1 Watch has been issued due to the likely response associated with the arrival of an asymmetric halo coronal mass ejection glancing blow late on the Wednesday to early Thursday. The CME was first observed in  at 8:25 p.m. on Sunday. ... According to NASA, solar activity associated with Space...

Professor Valentina Zharkova gave a presentation of her Climate and the Solar Magnetic Field hypothesis at the Global Warming Policy Foundation in October, 2018. The information she unveiled should shake/wake you up. Zharkova was one of the few that correctly predicted solar cycle 24 would be weaker than cycle 23 — only 2 out of 150 models predicted this. Her models have run at a 93% accuracy and her findings suggest a Super Grand Solar Minimum is on the cards beginning 2020 and running for 350-400 years.

Professor Valentina Zharkova gave a presentation of her Climate and the Solar Magnetic Field hypothesis at the Global Warming Policy Foundation in October, 2018. The information she unveiled should shake/wake you up. Zharkova was one of the few that correctly predicted solar cycle 24 would be weaker than cycle 23 — only 2 out of 150 models predicted this. Her models have run at a 93% accuracy and her findings suggest a Super Grand Solar Minimum is on the cards beginning 2020 and running for 350-400 years. The last time we had a little ice age only two magnetic fields...