The Sun Goes Blank Again During the Weakest Solar Cycle in more than a Century
The sun has gone completely blank - no sunspots since February 7th. The blank sun is a sign that the next solar minimum is approaching and there will be an increasing number of spotless days over the next few years. At first, the blankness will stretch for just a few days at a time, then it’ll continue for weeks at a time, and finally it should last for months at a time when the sunspot cycle reaches its nadir. The next solar minimum phase is expected to take place around 2019 or 2020.
The current solar cycle is the 24th since 1755 when extensive recording of solar sunspot activity began and is the weakest in more than a century with the fewest sunspots since cycle 14 peaked in February 1906.
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SDO/HMI
Solar Activity
..24 hr Summary... Solar activity was at very low levels. There were no spotted regions on the visible disk. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed in coronagraph imagery.
..Forecast... Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels during the forecast period (10-12 Mar).
Solar Wind
.24 hr Summary... Solar wind parameters continued to be influenced by a negative polarity CH HSS. This enhancement is likely a connection with the southern polar CH. Solar wind speeds decreased from 537 km/s to near 480 km/s. Total field ranged from 1-6 nT while the Bz component varied between +3 and -5 nT. Phi angle remained in a predominately negative sector orientation.
.Forecast... Solar wind parameters are likely to remain slightly enhanced over the next three days (10-12 Mar) due to southern polar, negative polarity, CH HSS influence.
Images credit: NASA/SDO
