by Anthony Ayiomamitis
Who stole the sunspots?! Where have they gone?! As noted by Dr Phillips (SpaceWeather), "As of March 31st, there were no sunspots on 78 of the year's 90 days (87%)" and this a continuation of the lack of activity observed for 2008 where 266 days were characterized without any sunspot activity (same reference). The collage below is comprised of two images spaced precisely four years apart and which is a perfect representation of what is happening (actually NOT happening) with Sol at this moment. More specifically, one of the two component images in the collage below is from July 5th, 2005 and which documents the sample rich activity which is characteristic of the sun during non-minimum periods. The second component image in the collage is from July 5th, 2009 and is most characteristic of the blank sun and/or nominal activity which has become the norm and status quo.
Some research suggests this lack of sunspot activity impacts the levels of UV in our atmosphere and which in turn impact the development of clouds. Certainly winters have been unusually severe and it seems each and every winter manages to find a way to be worse than the previous one.
Technical Details:
Dates: Jul 05, 2005 @ 13:27:27 UT+3 and Jul 05, 2009 @ 13:35:26 UT+3
Location: Athens, Greece (38.2997° N, 23.7430° E)
Equipment: AP 160 f/7.5 StarFire EDF, AP1200GTO GEM, Canon EOS 300D/350D, Baader UV-IR/Cut, Baader ND-5 (full-aperture)
Exposures: 1 x (1/500 sec, 1/400 sec), ISO 100, RAW image format, 3456x2304 image size, Manual Mode
Further details: http://www.perseus.gr/Astro-Solar-Scenes-Deep-Minimum-2005-2009.htm