The following is excerpted from the August 6, 2009 edition of SpaceWeather.com.
Excerpt: BLANK IS BEAUTIFUL: The sun is entering its 27th consecutive day of spotlessness, quiet and calm. That’s okay. According to astrophotographer Greg Piepol of Rockville, Maryland, blank is beautiful: “I took this picture on August 4th using my Coronado SolarMax90,” says Piepol. “It was a pretty sight uninterrupted by sunspots or other activity.”
Indeed, the sun is being remarkably quiet. After a promising eruption of sunspots in early July raised hopes that Solar Cycle 24 was gaining strength, the sun reversed course and retreated to peaceful slumber. Only four weeks after behemoth sunspot 1024 amazed onlookers, solar minimum has never seemed deeper. The sun’s 77% rate of spotlessness in 2009 confirms the ongoing minimum as a century class event.
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