Ginormous sunspot spews solar guts towards Earth Our own star has developed an astonishingly huge case of hyperactive acne, with one blemish so large you could plop 18 or 19 earths onto it, and still have room to spare. That is, of course, if you could maneuver them close enough without the planets melting, or being sucked into that big ol' ball-o-plasma's guts. At 1900 …
Today, tomorrow, next month, next year, next decade, next century, next millennium, next aeon, eventually we'll all die en-mass.
Me, I'm planning my planting and breeding schedule for the coming decade. Makes no sense to worry about events that I don't have any control over ...
As I read in the comments section of a physics blog, "Michio Kaku is not a physicist, he just plays one on tv."
He forfeited his scientific credentials years ago, when he decided that the primary purpose of science - or anything that unknowlegeable people could be persuaded to accept as science - was to get him on television.
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This spot is still a tiddler compared to some of the spots the sun had in the late 80s and early 90s. They were sort that were visible to the naked eye when the sun was setting and looked like rags of cloud or malformed birds floating in front of the sun.
And I had to walk uphill to see em. In the snow! At night!
That something like a Carrington event such as the one of 1859 would probably mean an effective end to what we call modern civilisation.
At least mindless chat about which was the best mobile phone OS would cease to be relevant -- and an end to Facebook would be the immediate result. Imagine the ensuing riots!
At least the gov would be spared the need to debate whether or not to switch off the internet.
It's all the fault of industrialism and consumer culture! I'm posting this to facebook with my smartphone so we can get rid of all this climate-ruining tosh! Rats, can anyone look up the closest Starbucks with wifi? My cell network is down and I need a decaf double mocha caramel espresso latte light with skim milk and chocolate sprinkles or I'll DIE!
Just because a giant solar flare won't send us back into the Dark Ages doesn't mean we're not doomed. Between the effects of globalization, which have led to an economy in which only the top 1% of the people matter, and global warming - we're doomed well enough without having the Mayan calendar to time it.
But to date (as a sunspot observer for quite a while), I have seen far fewer sunspots now than in the maximum around 33 years ago when I started, even though I have a bigger scope than I had in those days. So while the 11 year cycle is more-or-less on course in terms of the period, the whole 11-year wiggle seems to be superimposed on a downward trend. The last minimum was amazing. Months might go by without a single spot. I never witnessed that in the first cycles I observed.
They don't make sunspots like they used to! ;)
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