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Solar magnetic activity cycle

Solar Cycle 24 Heats Up



Looking to our skies is the job of your local weatherman, and for the most part, we thank them for it (despite the fact it still seems they don’t know what they’re doing). But our planet is affected by more than just terrestrial weather. Space weather also affects us here on planet Earth, and the driving force behind that, is the solar cycle.

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The solar cycle, or the solar magnetic activity cycle, is the dynamical engine and energy source behind all solar phenomena driving space weather. So news that Solar Cycle 24 is beginning is more than just interesting astronomical information. Solar activity can have real life, every day consequences for us humans down here. “This sunspot is like the first robin of spring,” said solar physicist Douglas Biesecker of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “In this case, it’s an early omen of solar storms that will gradually increase over the next few years.” This robin – a reversed-polarity sunspot – has been eagerly awaited by many. A group of solar experts predicted that this sunspot – which heralds the arrival of a new cycle – would come March of this year. But they could not be certain, giving a period of 6 months on either side margin of error. All of this is not official yet though, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) must still officially announce the beginning of the new 11-year solar cycle. According to reports, the NOAA wants to see more spots and disruptions on the sun before they officially announce that Solar Cycle 24 has taken over. As for “real life consequences,” a high period of solar activity – expected during the solar cycles peak in 2011/12 – plays havoc with much of the electrical equipment here on Earth. GPS signals, power grids, cell phones, civilian and airline communications, military communications and a whole lot more are just waiting to fritz out due to increased solar activity. An example of such an outage came in 1989, in Canada’s province of Quebec, when thanks to a major solar storm, the entire provinces power-grid was knocked offline. “Our growing dependence on highly sophisticated, space-based technologies means we are far more vulnerable to space weather today than in the past,” said Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA’s space weather monitoring and forecasts are critical for the nation’s ability to function smoothly during solar disturbances.” The only reason that Earth experiences these issues though is due to the increased activity, during what is called a Solar Maximum. The rest of the time, our planet’s magnetic field protects us from the odd solar burp. Joshua Hill, a Geek’s-Geek from Melbourne, Australia, Josh is an aspiring author with dreams of publishing his epic fantasy, currently in the works, sometime in the next 5 years. A techie, nerd, sci-fi nut and bookworm.


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