Topband: VANISHING SUNSPOTS (http://spaceweather.com/)

[Kevin Stover]

Thanks Bill.

I think Cycle 24 will be looked at as the beginning of a new Maunder 
Minimum.
If so then Cycle 24 will be as good as it gets for the next 70 years on 
the high bands.

On 6/5/2016 10:05 AM, Jeff Kinzli N6GQ wrote:
> Bill, good reads, thank you.
>
> It seems that the consensus is that cycle 25 will be less active than
> cycle 24, with some projections putting it at the lowest in many
> cycles. I think the theory is that the speed of the conveyor belt is
> an indicator the vigor of the coming cycle.
>
> Do we have any predictions that are gaining acceptance that give us
> any clues on what the rest of cycle 24 will look like, and the
> beginning of cycle 25? I guess its no mistake you posted this on
> topband - meaning we've got a nice topband future for the coming
> years, but maybe highbands not so much?
>
> Very interested in continued discussion...
>
> 73 de N6GQ
>
>
> On Sun, Jun 5, 2016 at 5:47 AM, Bill Tippett <btippett at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>> Something interesting is happening on the sun. Yesterday, June 3rd, the
>> sunspot number dropped to 0, and the solar disk is still blank on June 5th.
>> Latest images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory reveal no significant
>> dark cores.
>>
>> What does this mean? The solar cycle is like a pendulum, swinging back and
>> forth between periods of high and low sunspot number every 11 years.
>> Today's blank sun is a sign that the pendulum is swinging toward low
>> sunspot numbers. In other words, Solar Minimum is coming.
>>
>> The spotless state of today's sun is just temporary. Underneath the visible
>> surface of the sun, the solar dynamo is still churning out knots of
>> magnetism that will soon bob to the surface to make new sunspots. The
>> current solar cycle is not finished. It is, however, rapidly waning
>> <http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression>.
>>
>> http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression
>>
>> Forecasters expect the next Solar Minimum to arrive in 2019-2020. Between
>> now and then, there will be lots of spotless suns. At first, the blank
>> stretches will be measured in days; later in weeks and months. Don't expect
>> space weather to grow quiet, however. Solar Minimum brings many interesting
>> changes. For instance, as the extreme ultraviolet output of the sun
>> decreases, the upper atmosphere of Earth cools and collapses. This allows
>> space junk to accumulate around our planet. Also, the heliosphere shrinks,
>> bringing interstellar space closer to Earth. Galactic cosmic rays penetrate
>> the inner solar system with relative ease. Indeed, a cosmic ray surge
>> <http://news.spaceweather.com/cosmic-rays-continue-to-intensify-feb-2016/> is
>> already underway. Goodbye sunspots, hello deep-space radiation!
>>
>> http://news.spaceweather.com/cosmic-rays-continue-to-intensify-feb-2016/
>> _________________
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> _________________
> Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
>


-- 
R. Kevin Stover
AC0H
ARRL
FISTS #11993
SKCC #215
NAQCC #3441


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