The Sun is eerily quiet

No sunspots have been recorded, and in the pits of a century level solar minimum it's eerily quiet.

Who's to say that this is not the calm before the storm?

Discuss

Well, we are coming out of a solar minimum (one that has been excessively quiet) and -- if historical cycles continue -- we are now headed on our way up to a solar maximum that will culminate in about 5 or 6 years before heading back to a new solar minimum....

...therefore, if the continuing cycles of the Sun hold true as they normally do, we should be getting more activity starting soon and reaching its climax in a few years.

So, yeah, I expect more activity soon.

[edit on 8/27/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People
Well, we are coming out of a solar minimum (one that has been excessively quiet) and -- if historical cycles continue -- we are now headed on our way up to a solar maximum that will culminate in about 5 or 6 years before heading back to a new solar minimum....

...therefore, if the continuing cycles of the Sun hold true as they normally do, we should be getting more activity starting soon and reaching its climax in a few years.

So, yeah, I expect more activity soon.

[edit on 8/27/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]

If I ask what this means will you tell me to go look it up? Because if you do I'll just say I have but I don't understand what it all means. I've tried to read about sunspots and solar maximums and minimums et. al. But I can't understand what it all means.

I'm guessing that minimal sunspots are less explosions on the sun? If so, what does this mean for us? I just don't get it. But I would like to understand.

reply to post by Hazelnut


The Sun's activity seems to go in (roughly) 11-year "Solar Cycles". These cycles start with a period of very low activity ("Solar Minimum"); then activity slowly escalates, which culminates in the middle of the cycle with a period of very high solar activity ("Solar Maximum"); then the activity gradually recedes back to a period of very low activity. The solar maximum occurs basically right in the middle of the solar cycle.

The time between two solar minimums (and between two solar maximums, for that matter) has been tracked for about 250 years, and the average length for these cycles is about 11 years. However, there have been shorter cycles (about 9 years) and longer cycles (about 14 years).

Scientists say that the last cycle perhaps ended with a minimum in December 2008, at which time a new cycle begun -- although the actual date may need to be later revised based on what the Sun does next. If the December 2008 date holds, then that past cycle would have lasted 12.5 years.

It is said that the present Solar minimum is the quietest (less sun spsots, flares, and other activity) we've had in 100 years. Some (such as the OP) are wondering if this is "the calm before the storm", but the last time we had such a quiet solar minimum, the following maximum was very ordinary. So the "quietness" of the minimum could be meaningless to us.

You can google "Solar Cycle" and get a lot of info.
Here's a pdf file of a paper written by the National Academy of Sciences in 1997 that (in a nutshell) explains solar activity:
www7.nationalacademies.org...

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Well thank you very much. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this in a way that I understand. And also for the link and pdf.

I didn't know that the sun cycled. I know a little bit (teeny-weeny) about the moon's cycles. It seems I have found my new area of exploration.

One more question, if I may? What would happen if the solar maximun went berzerk? Would that cause global warming?

A lack of sunspots does not mean the Sun is inactive. He's still doing what he does.