Solar Cycle

Credit: SOHO/ESA/NASA · Download full size image

The sun’s 11 year solar cycle as reflected by the number of sunspots recorded to date and as projected (dotted line). Selected EIT 195Å and MDI magnetogram images are shown. In this cycle the Sun undergoes a period of activity called the "solar maximum", followed by a period of quiet called the "solar minimum." The rising level can be clearly seen in the comparison of EIT and MDI images. The current cycle, Cycle 23, is the 23rd systematically recorded since sunspot observations began in the 17th century. Posted on: 31 Mar, 2003

• Hubble Space Telescope
• Chandra X-ray Observatory
• Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory
• ROSAT X-ray Observatory
• SOHO Solar Observatory
• WMAP
• 2MASS Sky Survey
• ASTER Earth Imaging Instrument
• MISR Earth Imaging Instrument
• NRAO Gallery
• NAOJ Subaru Telescope
• Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
• European Southern Observatory (ESO)
• Wide-Field Imager (WFI)
• SOFI Infrared Multi-mode Instrument
• Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT)
• New Technology Telescope (NTT)
• Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX)
• SOHO Daily Images - 1996
• Spitzer Space Telescope (SIRTF)
• Infrared Legacy Gallery

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