Sunspots forming on the sun, instead of the expected low activity

[HiThere]

From The Extinction Protocol:

"Sunspot chain forming on the solar surface
Posted on July 10, 2011 by The Extinction Protocol

July 10, 2011 – Just when you thought the Sun was going away quietly; it throws us a few new surprises. This is nothing ominous but it does indicate our unpredicatable our star can be. Sunspot group 1247 is expanding rapidly and in an interesting way. The active region is organizing itself as a linear chain of sunspots, denoted by the rectangle in this July 10th image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory: From end to end, the chain stretches more than 200,000 km, which makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Some observers prefer H-alpha telescopes tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen, but for watching behemoth sunspots evolve, nothing beats a white light observing system. Meanwhile, a coronal mass ejection (CME) that billowed away from sunspot 1247 on July 9th could hit Earth’s magnetic field on July 12th. Because the CME was not squarely Earth-directed and is not traveling at great speed, only minor geomagnetic storming is expected when the cloud arrives. –"


_http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/sunspot-chain-forming-on-the-solar-surface/

 

[Laura]

Beware of "The Extinction Protocol." They regularly publish real articles, but then they write their own with enough spin to make you wonder what their agenda is. A sunspot chain is not evidence of increasing solar activity as in times past, but could definitely be in response to the comet that plunged into the sun the other day as well as the one that just crossed the sun, not to mention the other comets currently in the solar system.

 

[HiThere]

Thank you Laura, I'll bear that in mind from now on.

 

[Third_Density_Resident]

From what I have been reading recently about the Sun's activity, it's looking very likely that we're entering another Dalton Minimum period. Sunspots still appeared, but vastly less than what is typical. This was not as bad as the Maunder Minimum was, when virtually no sunspots appeared at all, but it was certainly enough to cause noticeable cooling of the Earth's temperature.

 

[Ca.]

A You Tube of the recent CME event on June 7, 2011, that illustrates the magnitude, of this colossal eruption. :O

Quote from the individual that put this together.

The sun unleashed a massive solar storm today in a spectacular eruption that some have called the most impressive yet observed by the NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The video shown is dramatic.
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center predicts that the solar flare will generate a coronal mass ejection (CME) - an explosion of charged particles (plasma) spewed into space. This could cause a geomagnetic storm when the plasma reaches and interacts with the Earth's magnetic field.

However -- and fortunately - the angle at which the plasma bombardment reaches the Earth beginning tomorrow and peaking on June 9 suggests the intensity of the geomagnetic storm will reach only G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) levels on a scale from G1 to G5 (G5 would signify potentially widespread damage to power grids, GPS, and low-earth orbit satellite systems generally).

AMAZING MASSIVE SOLAR ERUPTION!!! EXTREMELY CLOSE LOOK!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlnek9cMum0&feature=player_embedded

 

[Ca.]

Space News
VANISHING SUNSPOTS
Saturday, Jun. 4, 2016
http://spaceweather.com/

Something interesting is happening to the sun. Yesterday, June 3rd, the sunspot number dropped to 0, and the solar disk is still blank on June 4th. Latest images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory reveal no significant dark cores:

For the first time in almost two years, the sun is blank--no sunspots! Credit: SDO/HMI

What does this mean? The solar cycle is like a pendulum, swinging back and forth between periods of high and low sunspot number every 11 years. Today's blank sun is a sign that the pendulum is swinging toward low sunspot numbers. In other words, Solar Minimum is coming.

The spotless state of today's sun is just temporary. Underneath the visible surface of the sun, the solar dynamo is still churning out knots of magnetism that will soon bob to the surface to make new sunspots. The current solar cycle is not finished. It is, however, rapidly waning.

Forecasters expect the next Solar Minimum to arrive in 2019-2020. Between now and then, there will be lots of spotless suns. At first, the blank stretches will be measured in days; later in weeks and months. Don't expect space weather to grow quiet, however. Solar Minimum brings many interesting changes. For instance, as the extreme ultraviolet output of the sun decreases, the upper atmosphere of Earth cools and collapses. This allows space junk to accumulate around our planet. Also, the heliosphere shrinks, bringing interstellar space closer to Earth. Galactic cosmic rays penetrate the inner solar system with relative ease. Indeed, a cosmic ray surge is already underway. Goodbye sunspots, hello deep-space radiation!

Solar wind
speed: 294.3 km/sec
density: 4.8 protons/cm3
Updated: Today at 1851 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1 1540 UT Jun04

24-hr: B1 0813 UT Jun04 Updated: Today at: 1800 UT

On Jun. 4, 2016, the network reported 16 fireballs.
(16 sporadics)

On June 4, 2016 there were 1704 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/