http://solarscience.auditblogs.com A blog of solar physics Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:33:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Prologue Although some might construe this as an attack upon people I like and respect, that isn't the intention and I don't believe that the people I quote here would take it as a personal attack because they're grown-up, mature people. If its a criticism of them, then its also ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/06/15/the-apocalyptic-temptation-a-plea-for-scientific-rationality-part-1/ I've no objection at all and much praise when scientists actually make falsifiable predictions based on their understanding of the science. Thus when David Hathaway predicts that Solar Cycle 24 will be as large or larger than Solar Cycle 23, I applaud that boldness. In this article on space.com, several aspects ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/06/12/hathaway-suns-contribution-is-small-compared-to-volcanoes-el-nino-and-greenhouse-gases/ This one could be filed under "Solar Cycle 24 pessimism" Lawrence Solomon in the Financial Post (Canada) writes: You probably haven’t heard much of Solar Cycle 24, the current cycle that our sun has entered, and I hope you don’t. If Solar Cycle 24 becomes a household term, your lifestyle could be ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/06/01/where-is-global-warming-when-you-really-need-it/ I thought I'd give a little heads up to a conference to be held at Montana State University from June 1-6: Approximately 100 scientists from Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and North America will participate in the workshop titled "Solar Variability, Earth's Climate and the Space Environment," said MSU physicist ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/05/25/international-conference-on-solar-influence-on-climate/ OK, so I've recently bemoaned my fortune in actually seeing an SC24 spot "live". But there's a much more serious question which Anthony Watts has brought up: Galileo, Wolf, and other solar observers of the past would likely never have seen it. So with these Tiny Tims coming and going so ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/05/06/a-very-good-question/ Either SC24 is the weakest ever solar cycle in a long time or I'm cursed. I look on Anthony Watts' excellent weblog and see that someone has sighted an SC24 spot in the Southern Hemisphere And here's the magnetogram showing that it is indeed an SC24 phenomenon: If you care to look ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/05/04/sc24-i-must-be-cursed/ This just in from Kevin (aka VE3EN) over at solarcycle24.com Patience is a virtue, Kevin. http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/04/25/for-some-the-waiting-is-becoming-unbearable/ I look on solarcycle24.com. I see a high latitude sunspot number 992. I think "hurrah! SC24 has finally shown itself". I check the magnetogram. The black arrow points to sunspot 992 - and its an SC23 spot! Its the same polarity as the SC23 magnetic signatures further south. The red arrow points to ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/04/23/fool-me/ I received this via e-mail from K7RA. The original document comes from Dr Kenneth Tapping who was quoted not long ago regarding the solar cycle being "the quietest [he'd] ever seen in 25 years". This was taken to mean that the current solar minimum was historically unusual, and here Dr ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/04/22/ken-tapping-the-current-solar-minimum/ Another week of excitement as the second solar cycle 24 spot appeared...and then disappeared just as rapidly. I can't help feeling that with an unprecedented amount of high technology monitoring the Sun with ever higher resolution, the criteria by which a sunspot is defined has become radically weakened to such an ... http://solarscience.auditblogs.com/2008/04/19/solar-cycle-24-do-we-count-tiny-tims/