[TAC] [Fwd: Solar Cycle]

[ihk8mm at chartermi.net]

I wonder how 6 meters will shape up in the next one? It would be really cool to work a lot of F2 propagation on that band.

---- Hank Kohl K8DD <k8dd at arrl.net> wrote: 
> *Next cycle of sunspots may be more disruptive
> 
> Associated Press
> Mar. 11, 2006 12:00 AM
> 
> LOS ANGELES - A new computer model suggests the next solar cycle will be
> more active than the previous one, potentially spawning magnetic storms
> that will be more disruptive to Earth's communication systems.
> 
> The next sunspot cycle will be 30 percent to 50 percent more intense than
> the last one, scientists say.
> 
> The cycle will also begin a year later than expected, in late 2007 or early
> 2008, and peak around 2012, said Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for
> Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
> 
> The new prediction is at odds with other forecasts, which suggested that
> the intensity of the next solar cycle would be smaller.
> 
> Accurately predicting the intensity of the sunspot cycle, which occurs
> about every 11 years, allows scientists to anticipate solar storms. They
> are caused by solar flares, or giant eruptions that burst from the surface
> of the sun.
> 
> Solar storms, which eject billions of tons of plasma and charged particles
> into space, can produce dazzling northern lights, but also disrupt power
> lines, radio transmissions and satellite communications.
> 
> The last time the solar cycle peaked was in 2001. During the last cycle,
> solar storms caused extreme radio blackouts in the Pacific.
> 
> For decades, scientists have tracked the solar cycle and appearance of
> sunspots, but they have been unable to predict the intensity or timing of
> solar storms, which increase as the number of sunspots increases.
> 
> Dikpati, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said her team
> tested the new computer model using previous solar-cycle data and had 98
> percent accuracy.
> 
> David Hathaway, a solar astronomer with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
> in Huntsville, Ala., does not doubt that the next sunspot cycle will be
> stronger than the previous one. But he said his research suggests that the
> next cycle will occur late this year, earlier than what Dikpati predicted.*
> 
> .