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One historical long-term correlation between solar activity and climate change is the 1645–1715 Maunder minimum, a period of little or no sunspot activity which partially overlapped the "Little Ice Age" during which cold weather prevailed in Europe. The Little Ice Age encompassed roughly the 16th to the 19th centuries.
Individual sunspots or groups of sunspots may last anywhere from a few days to a few months, but eventually decay. Sunspots expand and contract as they move across the surface of the Sun, with diameters ranging from 16 km (10 mi) [3] to 160,000 km (100,000 mi). [4] Larger sunspots can be visible from Earth without the aid of a telescope. [5]
Three solar flares occurred over a 24-hour period this week. While we may not see them with a naked eye, they can affect Earth. Here's how.
Space weather events can have a wide-reaching impact on the planet, affecting a larger geographic area than normal weather systems. ... with sunspots and other activity more prevalent at maximum ...
Sunspot activity has been measured using the Wolf number for about 300 years. This index (also known as the Zürich number) uses both the number of sunspots and the number of sunspot groups to compensate for measurement variations. A 2003 study found that sunspots had been more frequent since the 1940s than in the previous 1150 years. [30]
Some scientists say blocking a portion of the sun's rays could help buy humanity the time it needs to go green, but skeptics say the risks are too extreme to even consider the idea.
Strong concentrations of faculae appear during increased solar activity, with or without sunspots. Faculae and sunspots contribute noticeably to variations in the solar constant. The chromospheric counterpart of a facular region is called a plage. [1] [2] [3] [4]
In astronomy, the Wilson effect is the perceived depression of a sunspot's umbra, or center, in the Sun's photosphere. The magnitude of the depression for the umbra is between 500 and 1000 km, with an average of 600 km. [1] Sunspots result from the blockage of convective heat transport by intense magnetic fields. Sunspots are cooler than the ...