Scientists Predict Big Solar Cycle

[MIJ-VI]

"Dec. 21, 2006: Evidence is mounting: the next solar cycle is going to be a big one.

Solar cycle 24, due to peak in 2010 or 2011 "looks like its going to be one of the most intense cycles since record-keeping began almost 400 years ago," says solar physicist David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center. He and colleague Robert Wilson presented this conclusion last week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

Their forecast is based on historical records of geomagnetic storms.

Hathaway explains: "When a gust of solar wind hits Earth's magnetic field, the impact causes the magnetic field to shake. If it shakes hard enough, we call it a geomagnetic storm." In the extreme, these storms cause power outages and make compass needles swing in the wrong direction..."

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...ec_cycle24.htm

[jmattbassplaya]

Sounds like fun. Hope it doesn`t affect my gear

[GregDunn]

FAIL. We're currently in the deepest, longest solar minimum in over a century...

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by GregDunn

FAIL. We're currently in the deepest, longest solar minimum in over a century...

Link please.

[Linas]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

In the extreme, these storms cause power outages and make compass needles swing in the wrong direction..."

OR... cause very cool intense auroras!

[Hillbilly427]

science is so cool

[Deluge Of Sound]

Dec 21, 2006?

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

In the extreme, these storms cause power outages and make compass needles swing in the wrong direction..."

This'll make for some funny incidents in my physics and electrical practical classes at college I'm sure.

[MIJ-VI]

"This is a growing collection of major space weather events in history. This page contains a brief paragraph of the main effects of each solar storm, and a link to an archive of articles written about each storm that you can find in a variety of newspapers and magazines during the time of the storm. These accounts are a rich source of information about how each storm affected various technologies, and captivated the general public. Currently [August 15 , 2005], the archive includes 306 articles..."

[RWP]

Are these the same scientists that protected global warming?

[L-A]

Originally Posted by GregDunn

FAIL. We're currently in the deepest, longest solar minimum in over a century...

Until further development, I'll give more credibility to NASA scientists. Are there recent numbers available?

[Febs]

May 29, 2009: An international panel of experts led by NOAA and sponsored by NASA has released a new prediction for the next solar cycle. Solar Cycle 24 will peak, they say, in May 2013 with a below-average number of sunspots.

"If our prediction is correct, Solar Cycle 24 will have a peak sunspot number of 90, the lowest of any cycle since 1928 when Solar Cycle 16 peaked at 78," says panel chairman Doug Biesecker of the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.



http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...prediction.htm

Same site as the OP, but a 2009 prediction rather than the 2006 projection in the OP.

[jaywa]

Originally Posted by GregDunn

FAIL. We're currently in the deepest, longest solar minimum in over a century...

Is that why it's been so damn cold?

[XtreO]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Is that why it's been so damn cold?

I don't think so, solar storms are not bursts of heat but bursts of charged particles affecting the earth's magnetic field.

[Muusers]

Originally Posted by Febs

May 29, 2009: An international panel of experts led by NOAA and sponsored by NASA has released a new prediction for the next solar cycle. Solar Cycle 24 will peak, they say, in May 2013 with a below-average number of sunspots.

"If our prediction is correct, Solar Cycle 24 will have a peak sunspot number of 90, the lowest of any cycle since 1928 when Solar Cycle 16 peaked at 78," says panel chairman Doug Biesecker of the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.



http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...prediction.htm

Same site as the OP, but a 2009 prediction rather than the 2006 projection in the OP.

I wonder how this graph relates to the melting of the icecaps and glaciers, if it relates to it at all that is.

[MatticusMania]

They dont look that big...

[hbarcat]

From NASA:









http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/SunspotCycle.shtml

Although sunspots themselves produce only minor effects on solar emissions, the magnetic activity that accompanies the sunspots can produce dramatic changes in the ultraviolet and soft x-ray emission levels. These changes over the solar cycle have important consequences for the Earth's upper atmosphere.

[mrpackerguy]

So much for my hi-def channel signals from cable

[Yerf Dog]

Clearly we need to raise taxes.

[fokof]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

Sounds like fun. Hope it doesn`t affect my gear

As long as you have Monster cables and ultra-dough cables , you're OK.