Solar cycle 24, due to peak in 2010 or 2011 “looks like its going to be one of the most intense cycles since record-keeping began almost 400 years ago,” says solar physicist David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center. He and colleague Robert Wilson presented this conclusion last week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco
Their forecast is based on historical records of geomagnetic storms.
According to their analysis, the next Solar Maximum should peak around 2010 with a sunspot number of 160 plus or minus 25. This would make it one of the strongest solar cycles of the past fifty years—which is to say, one of the strongest in recorded history.
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[tags]propagation,hamradio, amateur radio, solar,sunspots[/tags]
There is an interesting article on HFLINK about the new Solar Cycle 24. It says that the new solar cycle may start later than expected, and it may or may not be a big one. The HFLINK organization is an international resource for radio operators for Automatic Link Establishment HF Ionospheric Propagation, High Speed HF Digital Communications, and Selective Calling.