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dave · April 3rd 09, 02:40 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

wrote:
Space Weather News for April 2, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

SPOTLESS SUNS: Yesterday, NASA announced that the sun has plunged
into the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. Sunspots have all
but vanished and consequently the sun has become very quiet. In 2008,
the sun had no spots 73% of the time, a 95-year low. In 2009, sunspots
are even more scarce, with the "spotless rate" jumping to 87%. We are
currently experiencing a stretch of 25 continuous days uninterrupted
by sunspots--and there's no end in sight.

This is a big event, but it is not unprecedented. Similarly deep solar
minima were common in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and each
time the sun recovered with a fairly robust solar maximum. That's
probably what will happen in the present case, although no one can say
for sure. This is the first deep solar minimum of the Space Age, and
the first one we have been able to observe using modern technology.
Is it like others of the past? Or does this solar minimum have its
own unique characteristics that we will discover for the first time as
the cycle unfolds? These questions are at the cutting edge of solar
physics.

You can monitor the progress of solar minimum with a new "Spotless
Days Counter" on spaceweather.com. Instead of counting sunspots,
we're counting no sunspots. Daily updated totals tell you how many
spotless days there have been in a row, in this year, and in the
entire solar cycle. Comparisons to historical benchmarks put it all
in perspective. Visit http://spaceweather.com for data.

http://www.solarcycle24.com/

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