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September 02, 2009 - Solar activity hits a new low |
The Sun has come all of one day away from breaking its record for the longest period of inactivity for the last decade - reaching a mid-summer low and falling into yet another state of 'hibernation'. Yesterday, on the first day of autumn, new sunspots appeared on the surface of the Sun following an absence of almost 50 days. The small group of just two spots was registered by the NOAA as number 1025 when it formed yesterday in the Sun's northern hemisphere close to its eastern limb. Astrophysicists had to wait almost two months for this event: the group of sunspots occupying the last line of the catalogue (number 1024), vanished from the solar disk on 11 July this year.
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Solar activity hits a new low |
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August 12, 2009 - The Sun - a summer without activity |
Precisely one month ago, on 11 July 2009, the last active area of the new solar cycle disappeared from the surface of the Sun. Over the 30 days following this, neither observers on Earth nor devices in space have been able to detect the emergence of any sunspots. Due to the fact that the Sun has completed a full rotation around its axis during this period, it is possible to conclude that not only are there no sunspots on the side facing Earth, but that there are no sunspots on the entire surface of the Sun. Therefore, it seems that our star has once again returned to a state of deep solar 'winter', following several sparks of activity in May-June 2009. Today (12 August) marks the start of the second month of this solar inactivity.
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The Sun - a summer without activity |
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July 23, 2009 - The storm began quite unexpectedly |
The strongest geomagnetic storm for the last seven months began on Earth almost precisely at the same time as the solar eclipse reached its maximal stage, the culmination of which occurred at GMT 02:35 (06:35 Moscow time). The ten-point Kp-index of geomagnetic activity, which only exceeded level 3 once in July, registered a rapid jump to Kp=6 within an hour, corresponding to a level 2 magnetic storm. Oscillations of such amplitude in the magnetic field have not been observed since October, 11th of last year, which is more than seven months ago.
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The culmination of the solar eclipse coincided with the strongest magnetic storm for the last 7 months |
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