The Sun That Did Not Roar

Picture from the article: "On an otherwise blank solar disk, a single sunspot, dubbed AR1841, was the only visible activity in this Sept. 16 image."

Gabby Markola                                                                                                                     10/31/13

Earth Science C Block Odd                                                                                              Ms. Davies

Chang, Kenneth. "The Sun That Did Not Roar." NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/science/space/the-sun-that-did-not-roar.html>.

According to Kenneth Chang’s article entitled “The Sun That Did Not Roar,” our Sun is not following its expected cycle.  Currently, the Sun is at the height of its 11 year cycle, known as the solar maximum.  This cycle is recorded as the 24^th since scientists began tracking the solar cycles.  Almost everything is going as planned, however the minimal sunspots are raising questions among the science world.  While the Sun’s magnetic fields are on the cusp of flipping, as was expected, the fact that only one sunspot has flecked the surface of the Sun is confusing.  Some scientists had expected an active solar cycle, comparable to the recent ones of the past, and others predicted that this solar cycle would be less eventful.  The latter predictions proved to be accurate when the “lull of solar minimum” (Chang 1) lasted longer than was expected.  Data from 2008 shows that the sun was spotless for 266 days, which held the record for the blankest in half of a century.  In 2009, the Sun was blank for 260 days when it should have developed some sunspots.  Cycle 14 that occurred in the 1900s seems to have the same characteristics of Cycle 24 that is currently occurring.  The years of 2010 and 2011 showed a rise in solar activity, but then the amount of sunspots began to drop, which was no surprise to scientists.  Other cycles have proven that the Sun’s northern hemisphere becomes active first, then the beginning of the southern hemisphere’s active period signified another raise in sunspot activity, but that was not the case.  While there was a slight rise in solar activity, it has plateaued for the past year and is causing even more questions among scientists.  Dr. Biesecker is quoted to say that, “In all honesty, it really feels like the sun can’t make up its mind.  It’s just this flat mesa, and it’s not budging” (Chang 2).  His opinion is very similar to those of other scientists researching this event.  Even though many scientists are leaning towards the side of considering this a problem, there is some good that comes out of this situation.  A major worry of 21st – century technology is the fact that a huge solar storm could potentially hit earth.  This storm would possibly disable all satellites and harm wide bands of power grids.  The severity of this non-existent solar maximum has not yet been determined, but scientists are working hard to figure out why exactly this is happening.

The Sun is one of the many things that those who inhabit Earth take for granted.  Most people do not even think about the Sun unless they are trying to figure out the weather.  While the Sun seems to be pretty consistent, there are many different occurrences that have not been deciphered by scientists.  The inactivity of this solar cycle has not proven to be dangerous yet, but what if it changes the entire sun?  Something exactly like this has never happen, which is scary and an incredible learning experience at the same time.  Honestly, it is unknown what will happen in terms of the Sun, but this experience should be a wake-up call for those not concerned with any of the Sun’s activity.  As humans, there is not much we can do to help the Sun, but we can prepare ourselves for any occurrences of the Sun that might affect us.  Chang’s article mentioned how the fact that the Sun has been inactive is positive because it reduces the risk of colossal solar winds that prove to be quite dangerous.  Have there been any precautionary measures set up prior to this knowledge about figuring out a solution to this satellite problem?  The answer to that question is not known, but the human race should begin to prepare for some sort of occurrence.  That does not mean everyone should cease to use their electronics and such, but people should be comfortable without their electronics, because they may not always be as accessible. 

This article presented a lot of information about what exactly is going on with the Sun, which not a lot of people think about.  It was well written and had great facts, yet there were some terms left undefined which made it a little confusing.  It would have been helpful to have known a little background information about the 11-year solar cycles and what exactly they entailed.  Other than a small lack of background information, the article was written quite well.  It was able to make connections between some obscure Sun-facts and some more known sports facts.  The fact that both the worrying sides and the more relieved sides were represented showed how a major occurrence can have both negative and positive outcomes.