Sun, Magnetic Reversal

This is an interesting phenomenon, the periodic reversal of the Sun's magnetic field. It doesn't affect us here on Earth, but if we had that happen here all heck would break loose.

Nothing for us regular folk to see, but to some of us it is an interesting fact of our Solar System.

Sun will flip its magnetic field soon

The sun is gearing up for a major solar flip, NASA says.

In an event that occurs once every 11 years, the magnetic field of the sun will change its polarity in a matter of months, according new observations by NASA-supported observatories.

The flipping of the sun's magnetic field marks the peak of the star's 11-year solar cycle and the halfway point in the sun's "solar maximum" — the peak of its solar weather cycle. NASA released a new video describing the sun's magnetic flip



"It looks like we're no more than three to four months away from a complete field reversal," Todd Hoeksema, the director of Stanford University's Wilcox Solar Observatory, said in a statement. "This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.
FULL STORY - Fox News

No Solar Storm ! ?

Maybe the worry warts who believe they can control Earth's weather can put their minds together and do something for the Sun. I find anything to do with our Sun fascinating.

The calm before the solar storm? NASA warns 'something unexpected is happening to the Sun' 

2013 was due to be year of the 'solar maximum'

• As this picture shows, in fact the sun is incredibly calm - baffling experts

Something unexpected' is happening on the Sun, Nasa has warned. 

This year was supposed to be the year of 'solar maximum,' the peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle. 

But as this image reveals, solar activity is relatively low.

'Sunspot numbers are well below their values from 2011, and strong solar flares have been infrequent,' the space agency says.

The image above shows the Earth-facing surface of the Sun on February 28, 2013, as observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

It observed just a few small sunspots on an otherwise clean face, which is usually riddled with many spots during peak solar activity.

Experts have been baffled by the apparent lack of activity - with many wondering if NASA simply got it wrong.

However, Solar physicist Dean Pesnell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center believes he has a different explanation.

'This is solar maximum,' he says. 

'But it looks different from what we expected because it is double-peaked.'

'The last two solar maxima, around 1989 and 2001, had not one but two peaks.' 

Solar activity went up, dipped, then rose again, performing a mini-cycle that lasted about two years, he said.

full story, Mail Online