eHam.net News

///////////////////////////////////////////
VIDEO: Astronaut Tim Peake Speaks to East Devon Students from Space:

Posted: 09 May 2016 05:11 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36731


PUPILS from an East Devon school had a once in a lifetime experience today
after speaking to British astronaut Tim Peake aboard the International
Space Station. Ten students from The King's School in Ottery St Mary were
selected to ask the famous astronaut questions via amateur radio at
10.26am. Ten students from The King's School in Ottery St Mary were
selected to ask the famous astronaut questions via amateur radio.


///////////////////////////////////////////
Sun's Magnetic Field During the Grand Minimum is in Fact At its Maximum:

Posted: 09 May 2016 05:11 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36730


The study of the Sun's long-term variation over a millennium by means of
super computer modelling showed that during a time period of the Maunder
Minimum type, the magnetic field may hide at the bottom of the convection
zone. The study conducted by the Aalto University Department of Computer
Science, the ReSoLVE Centre of Excellence and the Max Planck Institute for
Solar System Research seeks explanation for the mechanisms underlying the
long-term variation in solar activity. The research team comprised Maarit
Käpylä, Petri Käpylä, Nigul Olspert, Axel Brandenburg, Jaan Pelt, Jörn
Warnecke and Bidya B. Karak. The recently published study was carried out
by running a global computer model of the Sun on Finland's most powerful
super computer over a period of six months. 'The Sun has an 11-year cycle
that involves, among other things, the occurrence and disappearance of
sunspots. The phenomena that occur in the Sun -- including the cycle --
change with time, so the solutions need to be integrated over time.
Short-term variation is not interesting for the purposes of studying the
space climate, for example,' says Maarit Käpylä, head of the DYNAMO team,
who conducts astroinformatics or computational astrophysics and
data-analysis at the Department of Computer Science. As a result of the
computation carried out, currently the world's longest numerical simulation
was created that produces a solar-like dynamo solution complete with its
long-term variation. The largest surprise of the study relates to the Sun's
silent periods known as grand minima, of which the Maunder Minimum is
perhaps the best known. The solar magnetic field is thought to wither
during it and be so weak as not being capable of generating sunspots or
other activity. 'In fact, the magnetic field is at its maximum during the
Maunder Minimum. Thus far, we have only been able to examine what is
visible on the solar surface, but simulations enable us to see below the
surface. During the Maunder Minimum, the magnetic field sinks to the bottom
of the convection zone and is very strong there,' says Käpylä