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It wasn't quite fireworks, but the sun's activity, coming out of a long, deep lull, picked up a bit over the July Fourth weekend. A group of sunspots, which mark intense magnetic activity, appeared in the past few days—a patch larger and more populous than any yet this year, according to data from the Space Weather Prediction Center.

As we reported in April, this year got off to a slow start in terms of sunspots, which typically wax and wane in an 11-year cycle. The minimum of that cycle brought an exceptionally quiet 2008, one of the least active sunspot years of the century.

Solar activity can have significant impacts in Earth's neighborhood, some 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) away. The so-called space weather that the sun stirs up can fry satellites, corrode pipelines and knock out electricity on massive scales.

Joseph Gurman of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, U.S. project scientist for the sun-circling Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), characterized the current upwelling as "not unusual for this phase of the solar cycle," as the sun's activity begins to awaken. The region, Gurman says, has burbled with low-level flares, but "it hasn't given up anything huge yet."

For an idea of what might happen the next time the sun does kick up something huge, see our August 2008 feature on solar superstorms and the communications infrastructure.

Image of the sun today with sunspot in lower right: SOHO/ESA/NASA

9 Comments

1. 1. BanderaT 05:55 PM 7/9/09

   With this 4th day of 100+ temperatures here in south Texas....thats all we need.

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2. 2. BanderaT 06:00 PM 7/9/09

   With about the 5th day here in south texas with 100+ temperatures and no rain...thats all we need.

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3. 3. Quinn the Eskimo 09:22 PM 7/9/09

   Just our luck!
   
   First, Obama. Then Cap'n'Trade.
   
   We need another Trillion (or two) stimulus. Why work? Money is FREE!
   
   Ask AIG or GM.

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4. 4. proctorjr1 10:50 PM 7/9/09

   Does anyone know the impact on weather heavy sun spot activity will have? I live on the Gulf Coast in Texas. My concern is our Hurricane season which has started. Its been faily quiet so far.

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5. 5. NamethBlack 11:17 AM 7/10/09

   To the above comments, short-term solar trends don't have as significant an effect on terrestrial mean temperatures as actual terrestrial factors. That being said, the increase in average activity on the sun in the last few centuries is fairly attributable to what global warming has been occurring, just don't tell your liberal chums, they like to think conservation isn't worth doing for its own sake.
   
   The biggest and most "immediate" threat of an increase in solar activity is an exceptionally active solar maximum and resultant coronal mass ejection. We're due for a big one at any time now (likely either this coming maximum or the next), NOAA's been warning about this since the late-90's. If the effect strikes Earth, the effects would be truly devastating for mankind and a natural disaster the likes of never seen by modern man.
   
   Also, that August 2008 article (linked in the post) is a good read, check it out:
   http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bracing-for-a-solar-superstorm

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6. 6. Epona 11:37 AM 7/10/09

   Nathan Black - you are probably right - there is a giant possibility of giant coronal mass ejections causing great havoc in our earthly midst. It is inconceivable that the public ignores these warnings. Keep up the good work

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7. 7. Epona 11:42 AM 7/10/09

   Nathan Black - you are probably right - there is a giant possibility of giant coronal mass ejections causing great havoc in our earthly midst. It is inconceivable that the public ignores these warnings. Keep up the good work

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8. 8. lindalinda 05:10 PM 7/12/09

   Believe it or not, this activity was predicted by a crop circle a few weeks before. I know nothing about solar flares or CMEs but I like to look at crop circles. People are beginning to decode them, and sure enough, someone said a recent one predicted solar activity for around 7/7. I checked back a couple of days later to see if there was any validity and I'm just shocked.

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9. 9. Terry74 10:49 PM 9/2/09

   Looks like the sun hit the snooze button and went back to sleep!

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