First Sunspot of Solar Cycle 24
The buzz is that a sunspot signaled the start of Solar Cycle 24, but the truth is a bit more complex: there is indeed a high latitude sunspot with the Cycle 24 magnetic polarity, an improvement over the December 13, 2007 not-a-sunspot, but but that doesn't mean that Cycle 24 has started; it's just one of the signs. I haven't seen news about the disappearance of the coronal hole, for example. Cycle 23 is still ramping down, and reportedly will continue to cause activity. The folks over at SolarCyle24.com have some ideas...
- posted by Leigh @ 23:34 z