Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SOLAR SCIENCE
Sun's Constant Size Surprises Scientists
by Staff Writers
Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 13, 2010


The Sun's disk showing active region 10486, which became the largest sunspot seen by SOHO, the satellite Dr. Kuhn and collaborators used to monitor the Sun's diameter. Credit: Courtesy of SOHO/MDI consortium.

A group of astronomers led by the University of Hawaii's Dr. Jeff Kuhn has found that in recent times the Sun's size has been remarkably constant. Its diameter has changed by less than one part in a million over the last 12 years.

"This constancy is baffling, given the violence of the changes we see every day on the Sun's surface and the fluctuations that take place over an 11-year solar cycle," commented Kuhn, the associate director of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA) who is responsible for Haleakala Observatories.

Kuhn's work is part of worldwide efforts to understand the influence of the Sun on Earth's climate. "We can't predict the climate on Earth until we understand these changes on the Sun," he said.

Kuhn and his colleagues (Dr. Rock Bush from Stanford, Dr. Marcelo Emilio from Brazil, and Dr. Isabelle Scholl at IfA) used NASA's long-lived Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite to monitor the Sun's diameter, and they will soon repeat the experiment with much greater accuracy using NASA's new Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which was launched on February 11.

According to Kuhn, the ultimate solution to this puzzle will depend on probing the smallest observable scales of the solar surface using the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST), which is scheduled for completion on Haleakala in 2017.

"To be able to predict what the Sun will do, we need both the big picture and the details," said Kuhn. "Just as powerful hurricanes on Earth start as a gentle breeze, the analogs of terrestrial storms on the Sun start as small kinks in the Sun's magnetic field."

.


Related Links
SOHO
SDO
Solar Science News at SpaceDaily






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SOLAR SCIENCE
SDO Observes Massive Eruption And Scorching Rain
Huntsville AL (SPX) Apr 28, 2010
Just last week, scientists working with NASA's new Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) released the most astonishing movies of the sun anyone had ever seen. Now, they're doing it again. "SDO has just observed a massive eruption on the sun-one of the biggest in years," says Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters in Washington DC. "The footage is not only dramatic, but also could solve a longst ... read more


SOLAR SCIENCE
LRO Team Helps Track Laser Signals To Russian Rover Mirror

Lunar Polar Craters May Be Electrified

Seed Bank For The Moon

Craters Around Lunar Poles Could Be Electrified

SOLAR SCIENCE
Mars500 European Crew Selected And Ready To Go

Opportunity Drives Twice This Week

New Martian Views From Orbiting Camera Show Diversity

Countdown begins to 520 day 'Mars mission'

SOLAR SCIENCE
Bonds And Beads Of Courage Fly On Atlantis

Neil Armstrong says Obama 'poorly advised' on space

Astronaut Takes Flag To Outer Space To Commemorate The Ilan Ramon Scholarship Project

'Starving yogi' astounds Indian scientists

SOLAR SCIENCE
Seven More For Shenzhou

China Signs Up First Female Astronauts

China To Launch Second Lunar Probe This Year

China, Bolivia to build communications satellite

SOLAR SCIENCE
ISS Crew Set To Relocate Russian Spacecraft

Russian Space Freighter Undocked From ISS

Researchers To Send Bacteria Into Orbit Aboard Atlantis

Russian Space Freighter Ready To Leave Orbital Station

SOLAR SCIENCE
Soyuz Consultation Committee Sets Inaugural Launch For Fourth Quarter Of 2010

Integration Of Soyuz' First And Second Stages Is Complete

Arianespace Signs Contract With HUGHES To Launch Jupiter

Energia Overseas Limited Assumes DIP Financing For Sea Launch

SOLAR SCIENCE
Planet discovered lacking methane

'This Planet Tastes Funny,' According To Spitzer

Small, Ground-Based Telescope Images Three Exoplanets

Wet Rocky Planets A Dime A Dozen In The Milky Way

SOLAR SCIENCE
Making light work: The 50-year odyssey of the laser

Sharp develops 3D camera system for mobile phones

HTC strikes back at Apple with patent complaint

Google, Verizon working on tablet computer: WSJ




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement