January 26 Postings

Solar activity varies on an 11 year cycle. About every 11 years, sunspots reach a maximum number from which they then decline so that minimums are reached at intervals of about 11 years. The intensity of solar cycles vary tremendously as does the exact shape of the increase/decrease curve. Solar activity can endanger space craft and cause strange phenomena in the ionosphere. The aurora is produced by solar events. Some radio communications are enhanced by solar activity. If had hadn't occurred near a sunspot peak, Marconi's message would never have made it across the Atlantic. Solar activity is the reason that we occasinally get television stations from farther away than usual. The current solar cycle was thought to have peaked in 2000 and to be in decline, but NASA scientists now believe that this cycle has a double peak and that we are back at a high level again. This is the same thing that happened in the last two cycles as well.