Scientists just announced that our Sun is in a new cycle.
Solar activity has been relatively low over the past few years, and now that scientists have confirmed solar minimum was in December 2019, a new solar cycle is underway — meaning that we expect to see solar activity start to ramp up over the next several years.
The Sun goes through natural cycles, in which the star swings from relatively calm to stormy. At its most active — called solar maximum — the Sun is freckled with sunspots, and its magnetic poles reverse. At solar maximum, the Sun’s magnetic field, which drives solar activity, is taut and tangled. During solar minimum, sunspots are few and far between, and the Sun’s magnetic field is ordered and relaxed.
Understanding the Sun’s behavior is an important part of life in our solar system. The Sun’s violent outbursts can disturb the satellites and communications signals traveling around Earth, or one day, Artemis astronauts exploring distant worlds. Scientists study the solar cycle so we can better predict solar activity.
Surveying sunspots is the most basic of ways we study how solar activity rises and falls over time, and it’s the basis of many efforts to track the solar cycle. Around the world, observers conduct daily sunspot censuses. They draw the Sun at the same time each day, using the same tools for consistency. Together, their observations make up the international sunspot number, a complex task run by the World Data Center for the Sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations, at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Brussels, which tracks sunspots and pinpoints the highs and lows of the solar cycle. Some 80 stations around the world contribute their data.
Credit: USET data/image, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels
Other indicators besides sunspots can signal when the Sun is reaching its low. In previous cycles, scientists have noticed the strength of the Sun’s magnetic field near the poles at solar minimum hints at the intensity of the next maximum. When the poles are weak, the next peak is weak, and vice versa.
Another signal comes from outside the solar system. Cosmic rays are high-energy particle fragments, the rubble from exploded stars in distant galaxies that shoot into our solar system with astounding energy. During solar maximum, the Sun’s strong magnetic field envelops our solar system in a magnetic cocoon that is difficult for cosmic rays to infiltrate. In off-peak years, the number of cosmic rays in the solar system climbs as more and more make it past the quiet Sun. By tracking cosmic rays both in space and on the ground, scientists have yet another measure of the Sun’s cycle.
Since 1989, an international panel of experts—sponsored by NASA and NOAA—meets each decade to make their prediction for the next solar cycle. The prediction includes the sunspot number, a measure of how strong a cycle will be, and the cycle’s expected start and peak. This new solar cycle is forecast to be about the same strength as the solar cycle that just ended — both fairly weak. The new solar cycle is expected to peak in July 2025.
Learn more about the Sun’s cycle and how it affects our solar system at nasa.gov/sunearth.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
It is baffling to me that abortion, a practice that has been around since ancient times, is today still being argued.
Not everybody is fit to raise or even carry a child. Abortion is a right.
For the Love of Peat: Our Best Defence Against a Changing Climate
Canada holds between a quarter and a third of the world’s peatlands. It’s time we took better care of them
Canada holds between a quarter and a third of the world’s peatlands, including acidic bogs and more alkaline fens as well as swamps and marshes. They can be found across the country, from British Columbia to the Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia, growing many metres deep into the ground. Due to their density of decomposed or decomposing plant material, one square metre of peatland in northern Canada holds approximately five times the amount of carbon as one square metre of tropical rainforest in the Amazon. But the country’s peatlands have been so degraded by the construction of mines and hydroelectric dams, by oil-and-gas developments, and by urban expansion that we are losing an ecosystem crucial to the prevention of natural disasters such as forest fires—as well as destroying a key mitigator of climate change.
Read more at thewalrus.ca.
Illustration by Kyle Scott (kjscott.com).
Voting is just about as useful as using a backscratcher on your stomach.
So inspiring! I hope to one day see so much nature in my home too.
I wonder if the wagon is diy?
Hen wagon by Maja Larsson
Do not delete description.
What Christianity cannot take from us is our belief and that which connects us and grounds us.
Let nature guide you. The Christian Bible is a man made tool of manipulation.
Is it actually demonic or is it a symbol or diety that white Christianity made into something evil so that they could convert the people of the "pagan" religion into Christianity
Homesteading is rough and a lot of labour, but there is a lot of rewards that come from it, so here are some tips that can help you start and make it through.
Be realistic. Adapt to your place rather than adapt it to you. Start small and learn what best grows where you are.
Use what you have. Be resourceful. You don’t have to spend thousands or put yourself in debt in order to start. Selling some of what you get - eggs, for example, can help make your home life more sustainable. With that said, it can help to lower initial expense until you start generating a more disposable income - I recommend attempting to save by utilizing cold water rather than hot, taking advantage of solar energy and cutting down on non-necessities such as TV or AC. Look into using a clothesline to save energy and money and you can even make your own soap!
Be patient. When you first start out, it’s not going to look the same it does in your head, and that’s ok! Your hard work will pay off in time. It’s a slow process that requires patience, and this lifestyle is often unpredictable!
START A COMPOST ASAP! You can even begin a compost in an apartment building in your kitchen. Coffee grounds go great in them as well! Familiarize yourself with what can and cannot be composted before starting.
Freeze your eggs and build your own nesting boxes and brooding boxes if you have chickens. A great way to build nesting boxes is cutting up old buckets and filling them! Make sure to predator-proof always.
Speaking of animals, if you plan on keeping goats I recommend an electric fence if you can manage it. Goats need strong fences.
Begin making the most of weeds! You can use nettle to feed animals (and people) and dandelion has many uses as well.
Keep yourself prepared for emergencies like power outages!
Consider making your own drip irrigation system.
Educate yourself on the plants you are keeping and how to look out for plant disease.
Learn how to create and sharpen your own tools!
Learning how to dehydrate food and plants is important for preservation.
Prepare for winter ahead of time!
another 3 part wideo :)