Sun Has First Spotless Calendar Month
Since June 1913 -- Watts Up With That
Since June 1913 -- Watts Up With That
Many have been keeping a watchful eye on solar activity recently. The most popular thing to watch has been sunspots. While not a direct indication of solar activity, they are a proxy for the sun’s internal magnetic dynamo. There have been a number of indicators recently that it has been slowing down.
August 2008 has made solar history. As of 00 UTC (5PM PST) we just posted the first spotless calendar month since June 1913. Solar time is measured by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) so it is now September 1st in UTC time. I’ve determined this to be the first spotless calendar month according to sunspot data from NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center, which goes back to 1749. In the 95 years since 1913, we’ve had quite an active sun. But that has been changing in the last few years. The sun today is a nearly featureless sphere and has been for many days:
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More News On This Milestone
Sun Makes History: First Spotless Month in a Century -- Daily Tech
Sunspots May Vanish by 2015 -- Canadian Free Press
Activity is quiet on the sunspot front ... -- Online Opinion
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