Extended Solar Minimum Linked to Changes in Sun's Conveyor Belt
Painius
Contacts:
David Hosansky
+1 303-497-8611
hosa...@ucar.edu
Rachael Drummond
+1 303-497-8604
rach...@ucar.edu
EXTENDED SOLAR MINIMUM LINKED TO CHANGES IN SUN'S CONVEYOR BELT
A new analysis of the unusually long solar cycle that ended in 2008
suggests that one reason for the long cycle could be a stretching of
the Sun's conveyor belt, a current of plasma that circulates between
the Sun's equator and its poles. The results should help scientists
better understand the factors controlling the timing of solar cycles
and could lead to better predictions.
The study was conducted by Mausumi Dikpati, Peter Gilman, and Giuliana
de Toma, all scientists in the High Altitude Observatory at the
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and by Roger Ulrich
at the University of California, Los Angeles. It appeared on July 30
in Geophysical Research Letters. The study was funded by the National
Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor, and by NASA.
The Sun goes through cycles lasting approximately 11 years that
include phases with increased magnetic activity, more sunspots, and
more solar flares, than phases with less activity. The level of
activity on the Sun can affect navigation and communications systems
on Earth. Puzzlingly, solar cycle 23, the one that ended in 2008,
lasted longer than previous cycles, with a prolonged phase of low
activity that scientists had difficulty explaining.
The new NCAR analysis suggests that one reason for the long cycle
could be changes in the Sun's conveyor belt. Just as Earth's global
ocean circulation transports water and heat around the planet, the Sun
has a conveyor belt in which plasma flows along the surface toward the
poles, sinks, and returns toward the equator, transporting magnetic
flux along the way.
"The key for explaining the long duration of cycle 23 with our dynamo
model is the observation of an unusually long conveyor belt during
this cycle," Dikpati says. "Conveyor belt theory indicates that
shorter belts, such as observed in cycle 22, should be more common in
the Sun."
Recent measurements gathered and analyzed by Ulrich and colleagues
show that in solar cycle 23, the poleward flow extended all the way to
the poles, while in previous solar cycles the flow turned back toward
the equator at about 60 degrees latitude. Furthermore, as a result of
mass conservation, the return flow was slower in cycle 23 than in
previous cycles.
In their paper, Dikpati, Gilman, and de Toma used simulations to model
how the solar plasma conveyor belt affected the solar cycle. The
authors found that the longer conveyor belt and slower return flow
could have caused the longer duration of cycle 23.
The NCAR team's computer model, known as the Predictive Flux-transport
Dynamo Model, simulates the evolution of magnetic fields in the outer
third of the Sun's interior (the solar convection zone). It provides a
physical basis for projecting the nature of upcoming solar cycles from
the properties of previous cycles, as opposed to statistical models
that emphasize correlations between cycles. In 2004, the model
successfully predicted that cycle 23 would last longer than usual.
According to Dikpati, the duration of a solar cycle is probably
determined by the strength of the Sun's meridional flow. The
combination of this flow and the lifting and twisting of magnetic
fields near the bottom of the convection zone generates the observed
symmetry of the Sun's global field with respect to the solar equator.
"This study highlights the importance of monitoring and improving
measurement of the Sun's meridional circulation," Ulrich says. "In
order to improve predictions of the solar cycle, we need a strong
effort to understand large-scale patterns of solar plasma motion."
# # #
About the paper:
Impact of changes in the Sun's conveyor-belt on recent solar cycles
Authors:
Mausumi Dikpati, Peter Gilman, Giuliana de Toma, and Roger Ulrich
Publication:
Geophysical Research Letters, July 30, 2010
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the
National Center for Atmospheric Research under sponsorship by the
National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions,
or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the
author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National
Science Foundation.
Starry Sunny Thank You to Ron Baalke of sci.space.news !
happy days and...
starry starry nights!
--
Indelibly yours,
Paine Ellsworth
P.S.: "I don't know what you could say about a day
in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets."
> John Glenn
P.P.S.: http://astronomy.painellsworth.net
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Paine_Ellsworth
bert
> August 12, 2010
>
> Contacts:
> David Hosansky
> +1 303-497-8611
>
> Rachael Drummond
> +1 303-497-8604
> racha...@ucar.edu
Hate that term "conveyoir belt" Its the magnetic field that is doing
the moving. TreBert
Painius
"bert" <herbertg...@msn.com> wrote in message...
news:2dcb9ce6-03c5-486e...@t20g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 13, 1:11 am, "Painius" <starswirlern...@maol.com> wrote:
>
> August 12, 2010
>
> Contacts:
> David Hosansky
> +1 303-497-8611
> hosan...@ucar.edu
>
> Rachael Drummond
> +1 303-497-8604
> racha...@ucar.edu
>
> EXTENDED SOLAR MINIMUM LINKED TO CHANGES IN SUN'S CONVEYOR BELT
>
> A new analysis of the unusually long solar cycle that ended in 2008
> suggests that one reason for the long cycle could be a stretching of
> the Sun's conveyor belt, a current of plasma that circulates between
> the Sun's equator and its poles. . . .
Hate that term "conveyoir belt" Its the magnetic field that is doing
the moving. TreBert
P I T A P I T A P I T A P I T A P I T A P I T A P I T A
I agree with you in theory, Bert, because i consider this to be
a perfect example of one of the minor defects in modern
magnetic theory.
Scientists *still* speak of "lines of force" when they speak of
magnetic fields. The implication is that wherever these lines
of force appear, the magnetic field strength suddenly "jumps"
to a higher level. And this is far from true.
This defect in theory arises from the old experiment where a
piece of paper is laid over a permanent magnet, and then iron
filings are placed on the paper. Those iron filings then "line
up" seemingly showing the "lines of force" of the permanent
magnet. What i think is missed is the fact that the permanent
magnet *magnetizes* each and every one of those tiny iron
filings, so each of those iron filings *becomes* a magnet in
its own right. The way they line up on the paper is the result
of the INTERACTIONS of their many tiny magnetic fields with
the much larger field of the permanent magnet.
If the magnetic field strength of the permanent magnet is
*measured*, then one will find that the field strength gets
smaller, *decreases*, as the distance from the permanent
magnet *increases*, and there are NO sudden "bursts" or
increases in field strength of the permanent magnet in the
vicinity of the magnet's "lines of force". The lines of force
are therefore "illusory".
The "conveyor belt" of plasma seems to imply a similar idea
to the huge, majestic magnetic field of the Sun, as if that
conveyor belt represents one or a part of one of the "flux"
lines of force of the Sun's magnetic field.
There *are*, of course, "flows" of Solar plasma that stretch
to the Sun's poles, and then sink into the Sun, and then
flow back toward the equator, supposedly carrying some of
the Sun's magnetic flux with it. These have been given the
identifier of "conveyor belts" because they "carry" plasma
and magnetic flux. The article is about a major change in
our understanding of this phenomenon on the Sun. In the
past, scientists thought that these "belts" should be much
shorter, but now we find that they can "stretch" to lengths
that are much longer than previously thought.
And that this might be at least one reason for the occasional
increased length of the Sun's 11 year cycle.
happy days and...
starry starry nights!
--
Indelibly yours,
Paine Ellsworth
P.S.: "We turn not older with years, but newer
every day." > Emily Dickinson
Brad Guth
> My Dearest Bert,
>
> "bert" <herbertglazie...@msn.com> wrote in message...
The hocus-pocus of voodoo conditional physics and faith-based approved
science is quite often "illusory", but none the less public funded and
otherwise protected so that only this form of "illusory" gets
mainstream published and into our K-12 textbooks, as though it were
the only word of God.
It's amazing that we're even smart enough to wipe our own butts.
Sort of makes me think we've been systematically snookered by those of
our own kind (mostly Semite peers that are in charge of most
everything that counts), and any revision of the past, present or
future is thus forever forbidden.
~ BG
Brad Guth
Some atoms obviously function collectively as entirely different than
others, just like those 70 atoms that manage to create those carbon
buckyballs as sort of cosmic nanosoot.
Quantum Magnetoballs?
~ BG
bert
>
> - Show quoted text -
11 year cicle fits well with movement of sun spots.They move to
greater and greater latitudes.What ends their moving further north is
they switch polarity.They make their march back south to the equator.
Sun's photosphere also has on its top an outer atmosphere,and it is
very charged. These charge particles are ejected into deep space. All
this your conveter belt is effected by. TreBert
Brad Guth
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> 11 year cicle fits well with movement of sun spots.They move to
> greater and greater latitudes.What ends their moving further north is
> they switch polarity.They make their march back south to the equator.
> Sun's photosphere also has on its top an outer atmosphere,and it is
> very charged. These charge particles are ejected into deep space. All
> this your conveter belt is effected by. TreBert
Notice how the GOP Mafia hates anything you have to say. Their Semite
doofus (aka rabbi Saul Levy) is even cranky all the time.
~ BG