Latest Solar variation Stories

Solar cycles: what are they and why should we care about them? Solar cycles are made up of what are known as solar minimums (min) and solar maximums (max). We refer to a solar min at the time when the sun is not active with many sunspots, while a solar max is just the opposite when we see a large increase in sunspot activity. So how long do solar cycles last? Typically they run on what is known as an 11 year cycle from the max to the min and then start over again anew. As of 2012 we...

The above image looks at the month of March for the three cycles known as Normal Phase, El-Nino, and La-Nina. The data was recorded for the city of Honolulu Hawaii, during the month of March. Remember this is just data for one month during these cycles. Normal: During this cycle incoming solar activity was upwards to 48% efficient for the month, producing less than 50% of the month which is due to the large amount of daily cloud cover that is seen on the island during the early morning and...

Being a meteorologist for over thirteen years you start to take note of many things in the atmosphere and how they repeat themselves. Our Climate is no different. The definition of climate is stated as: the collective weather data in regards to moisture and temperature for over 30 years for the same location. So to better understand our climate we need to look at this. First, we have average temperatures for given places based on the 30 year average. Some years the temps are warmer or...

The above image looks at the month of March for the three cycles known as Normal Phase, El-Nino, and La-Nina. The data was recorded for the city of Austin Texas. Remember this is just data for one month during these cycles. Normal: During this cycle incoming solar activity was upwards to 60% efficient for the month, producing enough solar energy that only 40% of the month would have not had strong incoming radiation. EL-Nino: This phase provided the area with an extended number of...

Charles Greeley Abbot (May 31, 1872 "“ December 17, 1973) was an American astrophysicist and astronomer born in Wilton, New Hampshire. He graduated from Phillips Academy in 1891 and MIT in 1894, with a degree in chemical physics. In 1895 Abbot was hired by Samuel Pierpont Langley as an assistant at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) despite his lack of experience in astronomy. Hired originally for his laboratory skills, Abbot became acting director of the SAO in 1896. When...