To study atmosphere, NASA rockets will fly into October eclipse’s shadow

Annular eclipse [image credit: Smrgeog @ Wikipedia]

This is part 1 – part 2 is next April.
– – –
A NASA sounding rocket mission will launch three rockets during the 2023 annular eclipse in October to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere, says Phys.org.

On Oct. 14, 2023, viewers of an annular solar eclipse in the Americas will experience the sun dimming to 10% its normal brightness, leaving only a bright “ring of fire” of sunlight as the moon eclipses the sun.

Those in the vicinity of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, however, might also notice sudden bright streaks across the sky: trails of scientific rockets, hurtling toward the eclipse’s shadow.

A NASA sounding rocket mission will launch three rockets to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere.

Study investigates primary drivers of observed warming: challenges of inadequate data

Urban heat island effect

The study, entitled The Detection and Attribution of Northern Hemisphere Land Surface Warming (1850–2018) in Terms of Human and Natural Factors: Challenges of Inadequate Data (August 2023), has 40 authors, some of whom are regular contributors to the ‘climate debate’ both in published papers and elsewhere. It takes a critical look at recent IPCC reports and summaries, especially the quality or otherwise of some of the data used to support its assertions. It suggests ways some of these issues could/should be addressed. Below is the abstract and the closing summary.
– – –
Abstract
A statistical analysis was applied to Northern Hemisphere land surface temperatures (1850–2018) to try to identify the main drivers of the observed warming since the mid-19th century.

Two different temperature estimates were considered—a rural and urban blend (that matches almost exactly with most current estimates) and a rural-only estimate. The rural and urban blend indicates a long-term warming of 0.89 °C/century since 1850, while the rural-only indicates 0.55 °C/century.

This contradicts a common assumption that current thermometer-based global temperature indices are relatively unaffected by urban warming biases.

Yndestad: A Cold Climate Period is coming

Prof. Harald Yndestad explains the research and calculations behind his ideas, and how he not only came to question IPCC-type predictions of large temperature rises in the next decades, but arrived at his own.
– – –
Climate data series reveals we are moving into a new serious cold climate period.

1. Solar irradiation from the sun has a computed maximum in 2017 and deep minimum in 2050.
2. Solar forced climate variation has a computed 500-year maximum in 2025, and a 1000-year deep minimum in 2070AD.

Read more here.

The clouds on Neptune perform a surprise disappearing act, linked to the solar cycle

Neptune

As the senior author of the study noted: “These remarkable data give us the strongest evidence yet that Neptune’s cloud cover correlates with the sun’s cycle”. The planet receives only 1/900th of the sunlight we get on Earth.
– – –
For the first time in nearly three decades of observations, clouds seen on Neptune have all but vanished, says Phys.org.

Images from 1994 to 2022 of the big blue planet captured from Maunakea on Hawaiʻi Island through the lens of W. M. Keck Observatory, along with views from space via NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope show clouds are nearly gone with the exception of the south pole.

The observations, which are published in the journal Icarus, further reveal a connection between Neptune’s disappearing clouds and the solar cycle—a surprising find given that Neptune is the farthest major planet from the sun and receives only 1/900th of the sunlight we get on Earth.

Record-Breaking Detection of Solar Photons

The HAWC detector (2014) [image credit: Jordanagoodman @ Wikipedia]

In a related Phys.org article a researcher says: “The sun is more surprising than we knew. We thought we had this star figured out, but that’s not the case.” But it has long been known that cosmic rays go up when solar activity goes down, and vice versa.
– – –
Observations over the past decade or so have shown that the Sun emits many more gamma rays at GeV energies than is expected from modeling, says APS Physics.

Now a collaboration operating the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory in Mexico show that this gamma-ray excess extends up to TeV energies [1].

This finding has implications for our understanding of both stellar atmospheres and astroparticle physics.

Massive sun ‘umbrella’ attached to asteroid could help fight global warming, scientist says

[image credit: latinoamericarenovable.com]

Carbon dioxide in varying concentrations has been around for millions of years. Plants, trees etc. depend on it, and here we are. But climate scientists know best – don’t they? Looks like another trip to cloud cuckoo land here, in pursuit of the absurd climate control illusion.
– – –
A new study lays out the theoretical plan of tethering a giant solar shield to a captured space rock, says Space.com.

Potentially, this contraption could protect Earth from the sun.

To help combat the effects of global warming, scientists are toying with an innovative idea to shield our planet from the sun with a spaceborne “umbrella” of sorts.

Understanding the role of the sun in climate change

Variation in solar activity during a recent sunspot cycle [credit: Wikipedia]

Dr. Scafetta offers a new analysis of the sun-climate issue, with fresh research. Clearly a crucially important topic in climate science, where certain pre-conceived ideas have dominated the discussion in recent years, to the point of refusing to even have one.
– – –
Although the sun provides nearly all the energy needed to warm the planet, its contribution to climate change remains widely questioned, says Nicola Scafetta.

Many empirically based studies claim that it has a significant effect on climate, while others (often based on computer global climate simulations) claim that it has a small effect.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) supports the latter view and estimates that almost 100% of the observed warming of the Earth’s surface from 1850–1900 to 2020 was caused by man-made emissions. This is known as the anthropogenic global warming (AGWT) theory.

I addressed this important paradox in a new study published in Geoscience Frontiers.

Sunspot Counts Hit 21-Year High

.
.
Another busy month for cycle 25.

Spaceweather.com

July 2, 2023: The sun is partying like it’s 2002. That’s the last time sunspot counts were as high as they are now. The monthly average sunspot number for June 2023 was 163, according to the Royal Observatory of Belgium’s Solar Influences Data Analysis Center. This eclipses every month since Sept. 2002:

Solar Cycle 25 wasn’t expected to be this strong. When it began in Dec. 2019, forecasters believed it would be a weak cycle akin to its immediate predecessor Solar Cycle 24. If that forecast had panned out, Solar Cycle 25 would be one of the weakest solar cycles in a century.

Instead, Solar Cycle 25 has shot past Solar Cycle 24 and may be on pace to rival some of the stronger cycles of the 20th century. The last time sunspot numbers were this high, the sun was on the verge of launching the Great Halloween Storms

View original post 55 more words

Dimwits: Biden WH Considers Blotting Out The Sun’s Rays To Slow Global Warming

Heatwave time [image credit: BBC]

Do they finally admit that tinkering with trace gases is a nonsense and the Sun is the real climate issue, supposing that there is an issue? They might want to consider possible adverse effects on weather systems and agriculture, not to mention solar PV output, for starters. Legal actions blaming governments for the weather, or even potential future weather, have already started in various countries.
– – –
The wanton destruction of priceless art and heritage sites across Europe by climate change activists is insane, and one would think we’ve reached peaked insanity with this unhinged community, short of acts of eco-terrorism.

Nope, says Climate Change Dispatch.

Sometimes, even banal actions, like a government study, can exhibit more ludicrousness than smearing paint on a Monet.

The latest Biden White House-endorsed study into curbing global warming is not just a case study in wasteful spending; it’s a Rorschach test on mental health.

EU calls for global talks on climate geoengineering risks

[image credit: latinoamericarenovable.com]

Another attempt to keep manufactured climate alarm in the news. Toytown CO2 capture gets a mention as part of the mythical ‘fight’ against global warming.
– – –
The European Commission on Wednesday (28 June) called for international talks on the dangers and governance of geoengineering, saying such interventions to alter the climate posed “unacceptable” risks, reports Euractiv.

The European Commission on Wednesday (28 June) called for international talks on the dangers and governance of geoengineering, saying such interventions to alter the climate posed “unacceptable” risks.

Geoengineering has attracted increasing interest as countries fail to cut greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to curb climate change. But the issue of manipulating planetary systems to fight global warming remains highly controversial.

Solar Max is Boosting Airglow

.
.
Another indicator of the current state of the sun.

Spaceweather.com

June 26, 2023: There was no geomagnetic storm on June 22nd. Nevertheless, the sky turned green over rural Colorado. Aaron Watson photographed the dramatic display from the West Elk Mountains:

“I woke up around midnight to crystal clear skies,” says Watson. “I noticed some wispy rays and, at first, I thought maybe it was noctilucent clouds. Upon closer inspection there was an intense green glow rippling across the entire sky.”

Although this looks a lot like aurora borealis, it is something completely different: airglow. Cameras with nighttime exposure settings can pick up the faint emission from anywhere on Earth even when geomagnetic activity is low. All that’s required is a very dark sky.

“Airglow is produced by photochemistry in Earth’s upper atmosphere,” says space scientist Scott Bailey of Virginia Tech. “And it is very interesting photochemistry.”

He explains: There is a layer of air about 95 km above Earth’s…

View original post 250 more words

Solar panels worth £5,500 stolen from energy farm – highlighting a growing crime problem

Valuable technology in largely unattended and sometimes remote country areas inevitably attracts attention from criminal elements. Increasing security costs money of course.
– – –
Solar panels worth around £5,500 were stolen from an energy farm near Wellingborough, reports Energy Live News.

The theft occurred between Tuesday 20th June, at 10:30pm and Wednesday 21st June, at 3 am.

The incident took place when “unknown suspects” entered Chelveston Renewable Energy Park, located in Chelveston Airfield and “stole 52 solar panels from the site”.

Northamptonshire Police have launched an appeal for witnesses and information regarding the theft.

Solar panels – an eco-disaster waiting to happen?

Image credit: solaruk.net

The same question can be asked of wind turbines and old lithium-based batteries. Experts warn of a waste mountain by 2050.
– – –
While they are being promoted around the world as a crucial weapon in reducing carbon emissions, solar panels only have a lifespan of up to 25 years, says BBC News.

Experts say billions of panels will eventually all need to be disposed of and replaced.

“The world has installed more than one terawatt of solar capacity. Ordinary solar panels have a capacity of about 400W, so if you count both rooftops and solar farms, there could be as many as 2.5 billion solar panels,” says Dr Rong Deng, an expert in solar panel recycling at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

According to the British government, there are tens of millions of solar panels in the UK. But the specialist infrastructure to scrap and recycle them is lacking.

Solar Flares and the Origin of Life

.
.
Countering extra-terrestrial delivery theories of life on Earth.

Paper: Formation of Amino Acids and Carboxylic Acids in Weakly Reducing Planetary Atmospheres by Solar Energetic Particles from the Young Sun (April 2023)
– – –

Spaceweather.com

In 1952 the famous Miller-Urey experiment proved that lightning in the atmosphere of early Earth could produce the chemical building blocks of life. New research reveals that solar flares might do an even better job.

“The production rate of amino acids by lightning is a million times less than by solar protons,” says Vladimir Airapetian of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, a coauthor of the new paper.

Above: An artist’s concept of the early Earth

Early research on the origins of life mostly ignored the sun, focusing instead on lightning as an energy source. In the 1950s Stanley Miller of the University of Chicago filled a closed chamber with methane, ammonia, water, and molecular hydrogen – gases thought to be prevalent in Earth’s early atmosphere – and repeatedly ignited an electrical spark to simulate lightning. A week later, Miller and his graduate advisor Harold Urey analyzed the chamber’s contents and…

View original post 346 more words

Jupiter, Earth and Venus’ tropical alignments point to the mean solar cycle length

Precession of Earth’s axis [image credit: NASA, Mysid @ Wikipedia]

Introduction:
A number of researchers have hypothesised that the relative motions of Jupiter, Earth and Venus are connected to the length of solar cycles. In this post we will show that cyclic periods of 83 years (Gleissberg), 166 years (Landscheidt, Wilson), and 996 years (Eddy, Stefani et al) are found not just in the syzygies and synodic periods between these planets, but also in their heliocentric orientations with respect to a frame of reference rotating at the rate of Earth’s axial precession. This discovery has implications for our understanding of the forces driving that axial precession, and opens some new avenues for hypothesising about the links between planetary motion and solar activity variations.

– – –
We propose that not only amplitude, but the mean period of the solar cycle itself derives from planetary influence in a specific manner.

Solar maximum may arrive later this year, say researchers

Sunspots [image credit: NASA]

Nothing better than actual observations to make a forecast change. The sun may have put one over the pundits again.
– – –
Solar Maximum is coming–maybe this year, says Spaceweather.com.

New research by a leading group of solar physicists predicts maximum sunspot activity in late 2023 or early 2024, a full year earlier than other forecasts.

“This is based on our work with the Termination Event,” explains Scott McIntosh, lead author of a paper describing the prediction, published in the January 2023 edition of Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences.

Medieval writings on lunar eclipses may help date volcanic eruptions

During a total solar eclipse, the Sun’s corona and prominences are visible to the naked eye [image credit: Luc Viatour / https://Lucnix.be ]

A climate detective story.

H/T Paul Vaughan
– – –
When medieval monks were looking up at the night sky, writing down their observations of celestial objects, they had no idea that their words would be invaluable centuries later to a group of scientists in a completely different field: volcanology.

A new study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature explains how descriptions of lunar eclipses by monks and scribes were key in studying some of the largest volcanic eruptions on Earth, says CTV News.

Using a combination of these medieval writings and climate data stretching back centuries, researchers were able to clarify the date of around 10 volcanic eruptions that took place between the year 1100 and 1300.

Solar panel firm engaged in London Mayor’s ‘green’ scheme suspended as customers cautioned about deposits

[image credit: newsolarpanels.co.uk]

Councils and energy-related schemes don’t have a great record. Their climate obsessions, mixed with finance, are turning out to be a poor recipe for success.
– – –
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to protect customers and prevent any losses resulting from Green Energy Together UK’s inability to deliver, reports Energy Live News.

Green Energy Together (GET UK), the primary installer for Mayor Sadiq Khan‘s Solar Together programme, has suspended operations and lost its trade body accreditation after an investigation [by the Evening Standard] – see below.

The investigation uncovered that hundreds of London homeowners were facing significant delays and difficulty recovering large deposits.

Severe Geomagnetic Storm: March 23-24, 2023

.
.
A few days earlier a ‘colossal solar tornado‘ (14x Earth size) was observed over the Sun’s surface.

Spaceweather.com

March 24, 2023: Forecasters did not see this one coming. On March 23-24, auroras spread into the United States as far south as New Mexico (+32.8N) during a severe (category G4) geomagnetic storm–the most intense in nearly 6 years. The cause of the storm is still unclear; it may have been the ripple effect of a near-miss CME on March 23rd.

“Aurora pillars were visible from Shenandoah National Park in Central Virginia,” says Peter Forister, who photographed the light show at latitude +38.7 degrees:

“Beautiful red and green colors were visible to the naked eye around 11 pm local time,” he says. Other notable low-latitude sightings were made in Colorado (+38.7N), Missouri (+40.2N), Colorado again (+38.3N), Nebraska (+41N) and North Carolina (+36.2N). More than half of all US states were in range of the display.

Not every light in the sky was the aurora borealis, however. There was also

View original post 198 more words

Extremely Rare CME

.
.
Good job it went the ‘other’ way.

Spaceweather.com

March 13, 2023: Something big just happened on the farside of the sun. During the early hours of March 13th, SOHO coronagraphs recorded a farside halo CME leaving the sun faster than 3000 km/s:

Because of its extreme speed, this CME is classified as “extremely rare,” a fast-mover that occurs only once every decade or so. A NASA model of the event shows the CME heading almost directly away from Earth. Good thing!

Although the CME was not Earth-directed, it has nevertheless touched our planet. See all the snowy dots and streaks in the coronagraph movie above? Those are energetic particles accelerated by shock waves in the CME. They create short-lived luminous speckles when they hit SOHO’s digital camera.

NOAA’s GOES-16 satellite has detected the particles reaching Earth–all from the CME’s backside. Imagine what a frontside blast would have been like. Earth’s magnetic field is funneling the particles toward the…

View original post 64 more words