So after the quietest year for sunspots in over a hundred years, the Sun is churning once again. 2019 marked the final year of Solar Cycle 24 (or thereabouts) and it showed us a deep minimum. You have to go all the way back to 1913 to find a year with more spotless days. This recent quietness had people uttering the words 'possible Maunder Minimum' in reference to the 70 year period in the mid to late 1600's when sunspots were few and far between. But we have a little advantage over the people of that time in that we have access to magnetic field data that couldn't even be dreamt of back in the day. NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory has the capacity to analyze the magnetic orientation of individual active regions on the Sun, and it's well known these days that that orientation flips with each 11 year solar cycle.
Recent months have shown an outburst of Solar Cycle 25 spots, indicating that a new maximum is indeed on the way. The spots have all been small and relatively short lived, but they've also all had the reversed polarity of the new cycle. This is great news for us Sun lovers. I've been using my Ha equipment through and through to observe the Sun right through minima, but the white light stuff has gathered dust. Not now, though. Even a modest 60mm F15 scope stopped down to 46mm and sporting Thousand Oaks solar film has been able to show me every new cycle spot save for the very first one back in July. Even today, using my PST and the 60mm, we spied a new active region that isn't even numbered yet, but has been determined to have cycle 25 polarity. Sun lovers rejoice, the Sun has awakened and is ready to dance!
The number of cycle 25 spots still numbers in the single digits, but the pace is definitely picking up:
Earlier today, users of very modest equipment could see the latest cycle 25 activity:
The Sun is Comng Alive!
The Sun is Comng Alive!
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
Re: The Sun is Comng Alive!
Beautifully written and well researched, as always, Mike. You are a credit to Astronomy and the English language.
And than you for the heads up!
Tom
And than you for the heads up!
Tom
Tom H
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence." - Louis Pasteur
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence." - Louis Pasteur
Re: The Sun is Comng Alive!
Thanks Mike
Clear skies,
Mark
iOptron CEM25P w/ Tri-pier
CGEM DX
LXD750 w/ CDS #1697
LXD75 w/ #497 autostar Hypertuned
Antares 8" f/5 Newt
Antares 4" f/15 "Vixen Spec" long focus refractor
Orion 4" f/7 ED refractor
Astro-Tech 65mm Quad APO
and so much more
Mark
iOptron CEM25P w/ Tri-pier
CGEM DX
LXD750 w/ CDS #1697
LXD75 w/ #497 autostar Hypertuned
Antares 8" f/5 Newt
Antares 4" f/15 "Vixen Spec" long focus refractor
Orion 4" f/7 ED refractor
Astro-Tech 65mm Quad APO
and so much more
Re: The Sun is Comng Alive!
Mike it's sad times indeed when we have to get all excited about THAT tiny little thing- well, hopefully more exciting sunscapes will be apparent soon!
Bruce D