[FARC] Solar Minimum

[M and J Gillespie]

Thanks for this. I have already thought that we might be having another 
Maunder Minimum.  I sure hope not. I'll be about 150 years old when we can 
get back to serious DXing again!

The first thing I look for from ARRL each week in the propagation 
predictions are the sunspot sightings!
Thanks again and 73s
Jim, K3DQ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "K3SKE Dan Szymanski" <k3ske at edurostream.com>
To: "FARC Mail List" <farc at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 3:03 PM
Subject: [FARC] Solar Minimum


> Forwarded on
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Alfred Laun" <hs0zar at gmail.com>
> To: "PVRC" <pvrc at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 18:21
> Subject: [PVRC] Solar Minimum
>
>
>> While driving around town on my errands I often tune to All-News WTOP
>> -103.5 FM.  It's a good way to catch up on the news when there is
>> nothing else you can be doing anyway.
>>
>> One of the programs they run regularly is a CBS feature "The Osgood
>> File."  Today I happened to hear this one, which I think will be of
>> interest to those like me who have been discussing propagation current
>> events.  Here it is:
>>
>> OF4-04/21/09 9:25 AM
>>
>> A QUIET SUN DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.
>>
>>
>>
>> I know you've already got a lot to worry about as it is, but something
>> rather odd is going on --- on the Sun.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Sun normally undergoes an 11-year cycle of activity --- and last
>> year, it was supposed to have heated up --- and, at its peak, would
>> have a tumultuous boiling atmosphere, spitting out flares and huge
>> chunks of super-hot gas.
>>
>>
>>
>> Instead, it hit a 50-year low in solar wind pressure, a 55-year low in
>> radio emissions, and a 100-year low in sunspot activity. Right now,
>> the sun is the dimmest it's been in nearly a century.
>>
>>
>>
>> Did you know that? It's true. Astronomers are baffled by it, but has
>> the press covered the story? Hardly at all. Is the government doing
>> anything about it? No, it's not even in the Obama budget or any
>> Congressional earmarks.
>>
>>
>>
>> But, sooner or later, I bet it will turn out to be our fault --- yours
>> and mine. And in Washington, where everything is political, they'll
>> note that it began before President Obama took office --- perhaps
>> "another example of the failed policies of the Bush Administration."
>>
>>
>> At an upcoming meeting of astronomers in the United Kingdom, they'll
>> be studying new pictures of the Sun taken from space, looking for any
>> hint that the Sun will start heating up again and acting up again, the
>> way it's supposed to. But there is no sign of that, so far.
>>
>>
>>
>> In the mid-17th Century, there was a quiet spell on the Sun --- known
>> as the Maunder Minimum --- which lasted 70 years, and led to a
>> mini-Ice Age here on Earth.
>>
>>
>>
>> Right now, global warming is a given to so many, it raises the
>> question: Could another minimum activity period on the Sun counteract,
>> in any way, the effects of global warming?
>>
>>
>>
>> Hush, child! You're not even supposed to suggest that. The only thing
>> that can change global warming is if we human beings --- we Americans,
>> especially --- completely change our ways and our way of life.
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this solar dimming business, now
>> that the story is out. Remember, you heard it here first...
>>
>>
>>
>> The Osgood File. Transcripts, podcasts, and Mp3's of all these
>> programs can be found at theosgoodfile.com. I'm Charles Osgood on the
>> CBS Radio Network.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Osgood File. April 21st, 2009.
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