[SCCC] Fw: [NCCC] Fwd: Solar Minimum is a Big Event

[n6tj at sbcglobal.net]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Schreiber" <k6owl at arrl.net>
To: <nccc at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 6:53 PM
Subject: [NCCC] Fwd: Solar Minimum is a Big Event


> Now the solar scientists find it more convenient to spotless days .....
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SpaceWeather.com [mailto:swlist at spaceweather.com]
> Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 2:49 PM
> To: SpaceWeather.com
> Subject: Solar Minimum is a Big Event
>
> Space Weather News for April 2, 2009
> http://spaceweather.com
>
> SPOTLESS SUNS:  Yesterday, NASA announced that the sun has plunged into
> the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century.  Sunspots have all but
> vanished and consequently the sun has become very quiet. In 2008, the
> sun had no spots 73% of the time, a 95-year low. In 2009, sunspots are
> even more scarce, with the "spotless rate" jumping to 87%.  We are
> currently experiencing a stretch of 25 continuous days uninterrupted by
> sunspots--and there's no end in sight.
>
> This is a big event, but it is not unprecedented. Similarly deep solar
> minima were common in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and each
> time the sun recovered with a fairly robust solar maximum.  That's
> probably what will happen in the present case, although no one can say
> for sure. This is the first deep solar minimum of the Space Age, and the
> first one we have been able to observe using modern technology.  Is it
> like others of the past?  Or does this solar minimum have its own unique
> characteristics that we will discover for the first time as the cycle
> unfolds?  These questions are at the cutting edge of solar physics.
>
> You can monitor the progress of solar minimum with a new "Spotless Days
> Counter" on spaceweather.com.  Instead of counting sunspots, we're
> counting no sunspots.  Daily updated totals tell you how many spotless
> days there have been in a row, in this year, and in the entire solar
> cycle.  Comparisons to historical benchmarks put it all in perspective.
> Visit http://spaceweather.com for data.
>
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