Sun spots appear to be teetering on the verge of vanishing from the surface of the sun – perhaps for several decades.
That's one possibility raised by three independent studies unveiled Tuesday at a solar-physics meeting in Las Cruces, N.M.
If the trends the studies highlight hold, the researchers say, a sun humbled by changes in its own internal workings could produce fewer solar storms during a prolonged quiet period – good news for satellite operators, astronauts, and Earthbound utility companies that must keep solar storms from triggering blackouts.
A long quiescent period also could provide an unexpected, natural laboratory for investigating often-discussed but poorly explored links between sunspot activity and global climate.
The most oft-cited example of a shutdown in sun spots is the so-called Maunder Minimum, a 70-year period that began around 1645. Sun spots virtually vanished from the sun's surface. The decline coincided with a climate period known as the Little Ice Age, when temperatures fell substantially in various locations around the globe and different times during the time span.
A sun with no sun spots? What that could mean for Earth and its climate. - CSMonitor.com
That's one possibility raised by three independent studies unveiled Tuesday at a solar-physics meeting in Las Cruces, N.M.
If the trends the studies highlight hold, the researchers say, a sun humbled by changes in its own internal workings could produce fewer solar storms during a prolonged quiet period – good news for satellite operators, astronauts, and Earthbound utility companies that must keep solar storms from triggering blackouts.
A long quiescent period also could provide an unexpected, natural laboratory for investigating often-discussed but poorly explored links between sunspot activity and global climate.
The most oft-cited example of a shutdown in sun spots is the so-called Maunder Minimum, a 70-year period that began around 1645. Sun spots virtually vanished from the sun's surface. The decline coincided with a climate period known as the Little Ice Age, when temperatures fell substantially in various locations around the globe and different times during the time span.
A sun with no sun spots? What that could mean for Earth and its climate. - CSMonitor.com
