Seasons of the Sun in an Age of Discovery
Channel: NOAASatellites
Date: 2023-09-26

Speaker: 
Mark Miesch

We all live next to a variable star. The Sun changes from day to day, from week to week, from year to year, even from decade to decade. These changes often take the form of colossal solar storms that are powered by magnetic energy and that pose increasing hazards to our technological society. 

However, there is striking regularity in the apparent chaos of space weather—the frequency and severity of solar storms rises and falls approximately every 11 years. This is known as the Solar Cycle and it has been occurring for at least 10,000 years, and likely much longer. 

In this presentation we explore how humanity has come to learn about the Solar Cycle and its earthly impacts through careful observation and inference that has spanned over 2000 years. Will will also discuss remaining mysteries, spectacles, and hazards that may await us as we approach yet another solar maximum.