Pingie: HTTP:: Sunspots 039 Insufficient 039 to Measure Sun 039 s Changes

HTTP:: Sunspots 039 Insufficient 039 to Measure Sun 039 s Changes
--------
According to a new report, released by a collaboration of scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and the University of Michigan, it may be that sunspot activities are not enough to gage the intensity of solar actions, despite already-established knowledge. As an argument to prove their point, the experts showcase the fact that, last year, the Earth was literally “bombarded” with high levels of solar radiation, even though sunspots were nowhere in sight. Over the past couple of years, the Sun has been in an unusually quiet phase, NSF News reports. Our Sun works in 11-year cycles, characterized by periods of high and low solar activity. However, the cycle we are in now is very peculiar as far as activity from the star goes. We were now supposed to be entering a period of intense activity, and sunspots are nowhere to be seen. This trend had astronomers worried last year, but some of their concerns disappeared in early 2009, when several suns!
pots appeared. “The Sun continues to surprise us. The solar wind can hit Earth like a fire hose even when there are virtually no sunspots,” NCAR's High Altitude Observatory expert Sarah Gibson says. Gibson is the lead author of a new paper detailing the team's hypothesis, which appears in the September 1...
--------
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sunspots-039-Insufficient-039-to-Measure-Sun-039-s-Changes-121986.shtml
--------
This e-mail was sent by Experiment23 Inc., located in New York, NY
10163. To not receive further e-mails, please visit
http://help.pingie.com