#Sun may soon have four poles, say researchers, could result in lower temperatures on #Earth,

Geev Zandi

Apr 22, 2012  -  Public

The sun may be entering a period of reduced activity that could result in lower temperatures on Earth, according to Japanese researchers. Officials of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the Riken research foundation said on April 19 that the activity of sunspots appeared to resemble a 70-year period in the 17th century in which London’s Thames froze over and cherry blossoms bloomed ...

Expand this post »

Sun may soon have four poles, say researchers - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun »

The sun may be entering a period of reduced activity that could result in lower temperatures on Earth, according to Japanese researchers.

▾

Add a comment...Reply to Author

Marian Filo

Apr 22, 2012  -  

+1'd on www.nasa.gov

  -  Public

Approximately every 11 years the magnetic field on the sun reverses completely -- the north magnetic pole switches to south, and vice versa. It's as if a bar magnet slowly lost its magnetic field and regained it in the opposite direction, so the positive side becomes the negative side. But, of course, the sun is not a simple bar magnet and the causes of the switch, not to mention the complex tracery of moving magnetic fields throughout the eleven-year cycle, are not easy to map out.

NASA - Hinode and SOHO Paint An Asymmetrical Picture Of the Sun »

The solar cycle unfolds with seeming regularity every 11 years -- magnetic north and south pole flip -- now two upcoming papers show that the switch at bottom and top of the sun is not simultaneous.