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The Sun has re-lighted itself

Restlessness is over.
The Sun has re-lighted itself according
to the rules and everything has re-entered
in the normalcy and a new cycle is about to
begin.
The Sun returns therefore to perform,
as in the past the objectives of the satellites
American Trace, Japanese Hinode and Euro-
pean SOHO of the ESA have documented.
Last Saturday a spot (number 1005)
marked its surface and it was the third one
THE SUN OBSERVED IN THE 22ND MAY 2008
in three weeks; this means an indication of
a resumption of the activity.
The sunspots, observed for the first time by Galileo Galilei in 1611, are areas with a
lower temperature than photosphere and this is enough to make them darker for contrast.
They are always associated with strong magnetic fields.
This activity involves us because the phe-
nomenon of the spots comes together with
flows of radiations and particles that then
invest the Earth causing, when they are par-
ticularly intense, the geomagnetic storms on our
planet; this means troubles and troubles to the
satellites in orbit, to the systems of communi-
cation and the electric nets.
It’s already happened and the cause is docu-
THE SUN WITH A CLOUD OF PLASMA
mented.
The new spots mark the conclusion of the
period of quietness that the star was crossing in its eleven year periodic cycle in which a mo-
ment of maximum activity followes one of
minimum.
The various solar cycles have had, ob-
viously, different characteristics: some have
been calm others more intense.
The next one that is coming is antici-
pated as moderated according to the ex-
perts of the Space Weather Prediction
of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration.
Moderate, nevertheless, it has a very
relative meaning because spots and erup-
tions, recorded by the satellites, have
dimensions that can contain a lot of SUNSPOT SEEN TO WAVELENGTH H-ALPHA

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History of Science and Technology
European Pupils Magazine
times our planet.
So we can understand the power of the phe-
nomenons and the worry that their effects can
sometimes create to the life on the Earth.
But also to the astronauts that firmly so-
journ by now on the spatial station.
They are the first ones to be exposed and to
suffer possible consequences.

Comment
This article is about the Sun and his
"awakening" from the minimum grade of activ-
A GREAT SOLAR EXPLOSION
ity that has almost characterized it for the
whole year 2008, beating different records of least precedents and arousing worry among the
DETAIL BROUGHT CLOSER OF THE MAGNETIC STRUCTURE OF THE
SOLAR SURFACE OBSERVED TO WAVELENGTH H-ALPHA
researchers, that affirmed that if
the solar minimum had still
continued there would have been
a cooling of the Earth.
Actually it is not really correct
to say that the Sun is recovering
from the minimum activity, in
fact in the preceding days some
stains are observed, probably of
the new cycle and an upsurge of
the solar wind, but the solar
radiation has now returned on
very low values; this shows that
the Sun is not definitely recov-
ered and that the solar mini-
mum could still persist.

Bibliography
• Giovanni Caprara, Il Sole si è riacceso, Il Corriere della Sera, www.corriere.it/
scienze_e_tecnologie/08_ottobre_14/sole_attività_acb7f302-99ff-11dd-a6f3-
00144f02aabc.shtml, RCS Quotidiani Spa, Milan, 14/10/2008

Iconography
• Images 01-05: Giovanni Caprara, Il Sole si è riacceso, Il Corriere della Sera,
www.corriere.it/scienze_e_tecnologie/08_ottobre_14/sole_attività_acb7f302-99ff-11dd-
a6f3-00144f02aabc.shtml, RCS Quotidiani Spa, Milan, 14/10/2008
Federico Pedicona
Liceo Boggio Lera
Catania, Italy
federico.pedicona@email.it
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