NASA predicts next solar cycle will be a strong one
Scientists predict the next solar activity cycle will be 30 to 50
percent stronger than the previous one and up to a year late.
Accurately predicting the sun's cycles will help plan for the effects
of solar storms. The storms can disrupt satellite orbits and
electronics; interfere with radio communication; damage power
systems; and can be hazardous to unprotected astronauts.
The breakthrough "solar climate" forecast by Mausumi Dikpati and
colleagues at the National Center for Atmospheric Research
http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/ in Boulder, Colo. was made with a
combination of computer simulation and groundbreaking observations of
the solar interior from space using NASA's Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory (SOHO). NASA's Living With a Star program and the
National Science Foundation funded the research.
The team predicts the next cycle will begin with an increase in solar
activity in late 2007 or early 2008, and there will be 30 to 50
percent more sunspots, flares, and CMEs in cycle 24. This is about
one year later than the prediction using previous methods, which rely
on such statistics as the strength of the large-scale solar magnetic
field and the number of sunspots to make estimates for the next
cycle. This work will be advanced by more detail observations from
the Solar Dynamics Observatory, scheduled to launch in August 2008.
(Source: NASA)
See also
Scientists Issue Unprecedented Forecast of Next Sunspot Cycle
A newly developed computer model shows the next cycle will be 30-50%
stronger than the last one. This prediction can help societies plan
for solar storms. (Mar 06, 2006)
http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2006/sunspot.shtml
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