Comments on: SC24: I must be cursed

By: H.Oldeboom

H.Oldeboom — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:03:11 +0000

Suppose Mr. Hathaway was right when observing a sunspot with cycle 24 polarity on 31th July 2006. This means solar cycle 24 is now nearly 20 months old and should statistically become visible. So, if this doesn’t happen, we can expect a probably weak till very weak solar cycle 24 (Schatten, Badalyan,Svalgaard or Clilverd). Note, I’m not a solar scientist, I’m a mechanical engineer with a maintenance management background.

By: Michael Ronayne

Michael Ronayne — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:43:04 +0000

Houston We Have A Problem!

The SOHO MDI Continuum & MDI Magnetogram imaging systems are not updating, as the Date/Time stamps on the following eight SOHO products indicates.

20080504_1900_eit171_1024.jpg
20080504_1925_eit195_1024.jpg
20080504_1906_eit284_1024.jpg
20080504_1919_eit304_1024.jpg
20080504_1854_c2_1024.jpg
20080504_1842_c3_1024.jpg
20080504_0505_mdiigr_1024.jpg
20080504_0512_mdimag_1024.jpg

As of this post the last MDI Continuum & MDI Magnetogram downloads were over seventeen hours ago.

The following graphic shows the delays between MDI Continuum & MDI Magnetogram downloads during 2008. With the number of Tiny Tim SC24 sunspots we are seeing, could one have slipped unnoticed through the gaps which the following graphic identifies?

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/6788/sohomdidelaymy9.gif

Mike

By: Michael Ronayne

Michael Ronayne — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:40:35 +0000

Here is a blink-animation for the new SC24 sunspot. The magnetic abnormality appeared in the frame at 2008-05-03 06:58. The sunspots appeared in the frame at 2008-05-03 20:46.

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/8986/mdi20080504ld1.gif

A minimum of 3 sunspots can be discerned in some frames. In the last frame with sunspots, their size and number appears to be decreasing. I will update the blink-animation when more frames become available.

Mike

Note: To view using IE press the “F11” key to toggle between full screen and the normal IE display. To stop the animation, press the “Esc” key. To restart the animation press “F5”. The solar image is best viewed in full size, if using IE pass the pointer over the image and click if a magnifying glass is displayed with a “plus” sign in the center. The blink speed is one frame every 2.5 seconds with a 8 second delay on the last frame.

By: Al Fin

Al Fin — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:48:51 +0000

I hope we have a cycle24 before cycle25 gets here! NASA’s track record is getting worse by the day.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:00:28 +0000

Is this the first SC24 sunspot on the southern hemisphere?

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:48:36 +0000

It is a Cycle 24 sunspot. Certain images may not have been updated yet depending on the source.. however this one is for real. This is the second Cycle 24 spot in less than a month. So hopefully things continue and hopefully a nice Solar Max will be reached in 2011-2012

By: Tusga

Tusga — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:33:09 +0000

And on a sad note, it appears not to have been given a number by NASA. Maybe the person responsible went for coffee at just the wrong time.

Lol, that was funny !

By: John A

John A — Sun, 04 May 2008 12:49:58 +0000

You’re imagining it. There’s nothing on the magnetogram which means that the spot you’re seeing is an artifact of the camera when dealing with a spot on the sun which is just slightly lower temperature than the surrounding photosphere.

Dealing with single pixels is always a problem and the cameras degrade over time, having to be “baked out” periodically as the CCD pixels lose sensitivity.

The magnetogram is the key. Nothing there means no sunspots.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Sun, 04 May 2008 10:26:34 +0000

It is still visible at now 10:00UT, 4 may. So you are not cursed