El sol sigue dejando perplejos a científicos y coincide más con profesías mayas.

Pues si, el solo sigue presentando comprtamientos raros que mientras a lso científicos les causa inquietud y extrañeza a otros nos hacer recordar las profecías mayas para el 2012.

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/lifestyles/x931214949/Looking-Up-What-s-going-on-with-the-sun


Although the sun has an average temperature of 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the moving, churning gases of its surface vary, and its temperature is known to slightly cool. Astronomers are presently perplexed by an extended cool season the sun is experiencing.

Solar activity is known to be cyclical; about every 11 years there is a rise and fall of sunspots. These are pockets of intense magnetism that inhibits the churning convection of gases on the solar surface, and appear dark because they are relatively cooler than the rest of the sun.

The last solar maximum was around 2001, when sunspots were at their greatest extent. Sunspots are linked to solar flares, which erupt particles into space, streaming towards the planets. These gusts of particles, in turn, interact with Earth’s magnetic field and lead to colorful Northern and Southern lights, as well as potential disturbance of telecommunications and power systems.

Presently there are few sunspots to be seen. Issues of at least two science magazines just released discuss the unusually long time the sun is taking to regain sunspots. Dr. Larry Vardiman in Acts & Facts (July 2009) writes, “The current sunspot minimum is setting records for its length.” As of May 7, 2009, there were no sunspots at all on 109 of the 127 days this year to date.

Although sunspots themselves are cooler, surrounding them are intensely hotter areas, which lead to the sun being slightly hotter at solar maximum. Climatologists have been reluctant to make a connection with sunspot cycles and the effect on Earth’s climate, due to the very small variation in solar radiation -- less than a tenth of 1 percent.

Robert Zimmereman, in Sky & Telescope Magazine (August 2009), writes that if the solar minimum continues to extend, its effect on Earth could be significant. He notes that the slowed solar activity could partially offset global warming produced by carbon dioxide emissions.

Both authors agree that the prolonged solar minimum is a mystery to scientists. A very lengthy solar minimum has occurred in the past, which coincided with a slight cooling of Earth. Known as the Maunder Minimum (named for solar astronomer Edward Maunder, who studied early solar activity), the period lasted about 50 years in the middle of what has been called the Little Ice Age, between about 1550 and 1750 A.D.

Sunspot activity has been actively recorded since Galileo began observations in 1609. Scientists are generally aware of solar activity in previous centuries from scant records of very large sunspots, seen by the naked eye when the sun was dimmed by fog or haze, and from records of tree rings. Yes, tree rings.

Trees contain carbon, which they get from carbon dioxide. Some of the carbon is the isotope carbon-14, which is created in Earth’s atmosphere from cosmic rays arriving from space. When solar activity is high, the wind of solar particles enveloping the solar system blocks much of these cosmic rays, and less carbon-14 is produced. Rings from ancient trees can show less levels of carbon-14, and thus signs of past, high solar activity.

The sun is our nearest star and source of much information from which we deduce knowledge of the wide variety of stars spanning the sky at night. Observing the sun and its sunspots must be done safely. Never look at the sun through a telescope or binoculars without a properly fitted, specially made solar filter. Looking at the sun without such a filter, would blind your eye due to the focused sunrays.

Completely safe, indirect methods are available. With a telescope on a tripod, point the telescope at the sun by noting its shadow on the ground. Hold a white cardboard a few inches behind the eyepiece, to project a safe image of the sun. Even without a telescope, you can project a very small image of the sun by simply putting a pinhole in a sheet of cardboard, and holding a white piece of cardboard behind it. When rare, very large sunspots do occur, you can detect them this way. Convenient solar projection devices are available. One is the Sunspotter, which was invented by the late Daniel R. Janosik of Bohemia, in Pike County, Pa.

Full Moon is on July 7.

Comments, questions and reports may be sent to pbecker@wayneindependent.com.