{"id":6121,"date":"2014-01-20T06:54:05","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T06:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6121"},"modified":"2014-01-20T06:54:05","modified_gmt":"2014-01-20T06:54:05","slug":"the-too-quiet-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6121","title":{"rendered":"The too quiet sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve posted occasionally\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>(e.g. see\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a>)\u00a0<\/span>about the tepid solar activity in what should be a period of awesomely explosive outbursts from our home star<\/span>. The realization is starting to sink in that this will truly be a very minimal maximum in the solar cycle :\u00a0<\/span>Is our Sun falling silent? – BBC (incl. video)<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

“I’ve been a solar physicist for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” says Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.<\/p>\n

He shows me recent footage captured by spacecraft that have their sights trained on our star. The Sun is revealed in exquisite detail, but its face is strangely featureless.<\/p>\n

“If you want to go back to see when the Sun was this inactive… you’ve got to go back about 100 years,” he says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And<\/p>\n

While the full consequences of a quietening Sun are not fully understood, one thing scientists are certain about is that our star is unpredictable, and anything could happen next.<\/p>\n

“This feels like a period where it’s very strange… but also it stresses that we don’t really understand the star that we live with.” says Prof Harrison.<\/p>\n

“Because it’s complicated – it’s a complex beast.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

===<\/p>\n

Check the\u00a0HobbySpace Sun & Space Weather page<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for daily solar imagery and data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve posted occasionally\u00a0\u00a0(e.g. see\u00a0here\u00a0and\u00a0here)\u00a0about the tepid solar activity in what should be a period of awesomely explosive outbursts from our home star. The realization is starting to sink in that this will truly be a very minimal maximum in the solar cycle :\u00a0Is our Sun falling silent? – BBC (incl. video)\u00a0 “I’ve been a solar … Continue reading The too quiet sun<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solar-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-1AJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12900,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12900","url_meta":{"origin":6121,"position":0},"title":"The Sun flips in Solar Dynamics Observatory imagery","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a cool GIF animation of images of the sun\u00a0from the\u00a0Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO): Sun-Watching SDO Does a Somersault On July 6, 2016, engineers instructed NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, to roll 360 degrees on one axis. SDO dutifully performed the seven-hour maneuver, while producing some dizzying data: For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multiple media"","block_context":{"text":"Multiple media","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"10f0.15[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/10f0.151.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8330,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8330","url_meta":{"origin":6121,"position":1},"title":"The sun goes nearly spotless","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The sun seems to be\u00a0taking a nap:\u00a0Spaceweather.com - July.16.14 WHERE DID ALL THE SUNSPOTS GO?\u00a0This week, solar activity has sharply declined. There are only two numbered sunpots on the Earth-facing side of the sun, and each is so small you might have trouble finding them. 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There are 2 images per day: Three Years of SDO Images - NASA Goddard Multimedia Item 11255 - Three Years of SDO Images http:\/\/youtu.be\/piuKlpJmjfg Three Years of SDO\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multiple media"","block_context":{"text":"Multiple media","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"composite SDO image of sun from April 2012-April 2013","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/743349main2_Timelapse_Sun_2k-16x9-673.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15271,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15271","url_meta":{"origin":6121,"position":3},"title":"Sunspots becoming rarer as cycle heads toward minimum","author":"TopSpacer","date":"December 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Bob Zimmerman posts his latest report on the sunspot cycle:\u00a0The Sun goes quiet! Sunspot update for November 2017 | Behind The Black\u00a0\u00a0 The past month was the most inactive month for sunspots since the middle of 2009, when the last solar minimum was just ending and the Sun was beginning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Science"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Science","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/sunspot1712041.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6820,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6820","url_meta":{"origin":6121,"position":4},"title":"Solar cycle still on the rebound","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The sun continued its resurgence in February: The Sun goes boom again! - Behind The Black Solar Cycle Update: Twin Peaks? - NASA Science \u00a0 === You can check out the state of the sun and space weather each day at the\u00a0HobbySpace Sun & Space Weather page.","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Science"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Science","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"ISES Solar Cycle Sunspot Number Progression - NOAA","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/SolarCycle\/sunspot.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6631,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6631","url_meta":{"origin":6121,"position":5},"title":"Video: Highlights of our sun from 4 years of SDO observations","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA's\u00a0SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory)\u00a0has a revamped website and great video with a music soundtrack displaying spectacular images of our home star:\u00a0SDO is GO: Four Years of SDO and A New Look for our Website! - SDO Blog http:\/\/youtu.be\/NAg4qXsk99c From the caption: Information about the individual clips used in this video\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multiple media"","block_context":{"text":"Multiple media","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6123,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6121\/revisions\/6123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}