Stellary Starry Universe

 

The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in a century. Weeks and sometimes whole months go by without even a single tiny sunspot. The quiet has prompted some observers to wonder, are sunspots disappearing?

September 3, 2009: The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. Weeks and sometimes whole months go by without even a single tiny sunspot. The quiet has dragged out for more than two years, prompting some observers to wonder, are sunspots disappearing?

“Personally, I’m betting that sunspots are coming back,” says researcher Matt Penn of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson, Arizona. But, he allows, “there is some evidence that they won’t.” [...]

 

Source: Nasa Science – click here for full article

 

 

NASA is planning a daring new mission to investigate the Universe’s favorite way of making things explode. Unlocking the secrets of "magnetic reconnection" could help alleviate the energy crisis on Earth.

 

August 31, 2009: Magnetic reconnection could be the Universe’s favorite way to make things explode. It operates anywhere magnetic fields pervade space–which is to say almost everywhere. On the sun magnetic reconnection causes solar flares as powerful as a billion atomic bombs. In Earth’s atmosphere, it fuels magnetic storms and auroras. In laboratories, it can cause big problems in fusion reactors. It’s ubiquitous.

The problem is, researchers can’t explain it.

The basics are clear enough. Magnetic lines of force cross, cancel, reconnect and—Bang! Magnetic energy is unleashed in the form of heat and charged-particle kinetic energy.

But how? How does the simple act of crisscrossing magnetic field lines trigger such a ferocious explosion? [...]

 

Source: Nasa Science – click here for full article