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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: SOLAR MINIMUM DEEPENS: The sun has been without sunspots for 33 of the past 34 days. To find a similar stretch of blank suns, you have to go back to 2009 when the sun was experiencing the deepest solar minimum in a century. Solar minimum has returned, bringing extra cosmic rays, long-lasting holes in the sun's atmosphere, and strangely pink auroras. Free: Aurora alerts. ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION UPDATE: As the sunspot cycle declines, we expect cosmic rays to increase. Is this actually happening? The answer is "yes." Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus have been monitoring cosmic radiation in the atmosphere with frequent high-altitude balloon flights over California. Here are the latest results, current as of July 2018: The plot, above, shows more than 150 stratospheric radiation measurements we have made using balloons flown over the continental USA. Because California is our home base, it is more densely sampled than other states. Adding additional points outside California remains a key goal of the monitoring program. How do cosmic rays affect us? Cosmic rays penetrate commercial airlines, dosing passengers and flight crews so much that pilots are classified as occupational radiation workers by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). According to a recent study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, flight attendants face an elevated risk of cancer compared to members of the general population. The investigators listed cosmic rays among several risk factors. Weather and climate may also be affected, with some research linking cosmic rays to to the formation of clouds and lightning. In August-December 2018 we will conduct a new campaign of coordinated balloon launches from the USA (including sites in California, Washington, Kansas, Oregon, and Maine), Chile, and New Zealand to further probe the evolving cosmic ray situation. As solar activity declines we expect to find increasing radiation around the globe. Stay tuned for updates. Poster Comment: This is the main page for July 31, 2018 in case you want a reference it at a future date. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
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