The solar wind is the lowest ever measured, the sun has had most spotless days in 100 years, and the solar magnetic field is inexplicably fading away.
Normal sunspot on left. Recent solar pore - sunspot with a weak magnetic field - on right.
By National Solar Observatory FishOutofWater
(On the right) An image consisting only of pores—weak sunspots with no penumbral structure—taken from the (SOHO) spacecraft on 11 January 2009; this is an example of what is observed today at solar minimum.
NASA solar physicist David Hathaway discovered in 2006 that the sun's "Great Conveyor Belt" had slowed to the lowest rates ever measured. This slowing portends for a very inactive solar cycle in the cycle after the coming cycle.
The Great Conveyor Belt is a massive circulating current of fire (hot plasma) within the Sun. It has two branches, north and south, each taking about 40 years to perform one complete circuit. Researchers believe the turning of the belt controls the sunspot cycle, and that's why the slowdown is important.
"Normally, the conveyor belt moves about 1 meter per second-walking pace," says Hathaway. "That's how it has been since the late 19th century." In recent years, however, the belt has decelerated to 0.75 m/s in the north and 0.35 m/s in the south. "We've never seen speeds so low."
By NASA FishOutofWater
Now, at the bottom of the solar minimum, the total solar irradiance has dropped to the lowest level ever measured by modern technology. Solar physicists are struggling to explain this unexpected drop in basal solar luminosity.
By NASA FishOutofWater
And solar radio wave emissions are the lowest since measurements began 55 years ago.
Now, solar physicists have reported a major decline in solar magnetic field strength. PDF
By National Solar Observatory FishOutofWater
The sun's magnetic field is the key to its activity.
Magnetism is the key to understanding the Sun. Magnetism, or magnetic field, is produced on the Sun by the flow of electrically charged ions and electrons. Sunspots are places where very intense magnetic lines of force break through the Sun's surface. The sunspot cycle results from the recycling of magnetic fields by the flow of material in the interior. The prominences seen floating above the surface of the Sun are supported, and threaded through, with magnetic fields. The streamers and loops seen in the corona are shaped by magnetic fields. Magnetic fields are at the root of virtually all of the features we see on and above the Sun. Without magnetic fields the Sun would be a rather boring star.
Active sun (Feb. 2002) with clearly visible magnetic field loops.
By SOHO (NASA & ESA international project) FishOutofWater
Today's blank sun.
By SOHO FishOutofWater
Could these data be evidence that we are about to enter a period of prolonged solar inactivity like the Maunder Minimum in 1645 to 1715 when few if any sunspots were seen and the climate cooled into the "Little Ice Age"? Calculations have shown that the potential cooling effect would not reverse global warming. However, the effects of prolonged solar inactivity on climate change and weather patterns are hard to predict because we don't understand the physics of the Maunder Minimum. The signals are mixed on the how inactive the upcoming solar cycle will be. Recent forecasts are predicting lower than normal activity but are not predicting a Maunder Minimum type event.
By NOAA & NASA FishOutofWater
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