Two sunspots, which appeared on the autumnal equinox to break several months of extreme solar quiet, have faded away, leaving the sun blank once again.
The deepest solar minimum in nearly a hundred years appears poised to continue. NASA spacecrafts are now reporting a surge in cosmic rays around Earth caused, somewhat ironically, by this low solar activity.
According to sensors on NASA's ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high.
The cause of the surge is the solar minimum, a deep lull in solar activity that began around 2007 and continues today. Researchers have long known that cosmic rays go up when solar activity goes down. Right now solar activity is as weak as it has been in modern times, setting the stage for a perfect storm of cosmic rays.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29sep_cosmicrays.htm
We need to watch how this affects propagation?
The deepest solar minimum in nearly a hundred years appears poised to continue. NASA spacecrafts are now reporting a surge in cosmic rays around Earth caused, somewhat ironically, by this low solar activity.
According to sensors on NASA's ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high.
The cause of the surge is the solar minimum, a deep lull in solar activity that began around 2007 and continues today. Researchers have long known that cosmic rays go up when solar activity goes down. Right now solar activity is as weak as it has been in modern times, setting the stage for a perfect storm of cosmic rays.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29sep_cosmicrays.htm
We need to watch how this affects propagation?
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