Satgen 615  The Sun also rises by GM4IHJ   (BID SGEN615)   2001-01-06

Unfortunately it is going down at the moment, reducing the level of
solar flux. This latest decrease being in line with the Suns 27 day
rotation cycle. Whereby one side of the Sun being more active than
the other, we have experienced a pattern of roughly 13 good DX days
and 14 poor days, for several months. This variation being ontop of
that due to the regular 11 year cycling from low to high and back
again . Which presently seems to have just passed it cycle peak high
, and be about to start decending.

Generally speaking however, apart from the minor variations of the 2
faced 27 day cycle. The Sun has been a very constant source in
terms of energy output . Having hovered between 1366 and 1367 watts
per square metre for the last 25 years. Although much further back in
time there is evidence of a gradual rise in output from a low in the
1750s.

The trouble is that we can neither account for these long term
changes, or, the short term changes. The Sun is such a complex
turbulent nuclear furnance, that while scores of theories exist for
its behaviour. None of them is able to explain the past or predict
the future on a time scale of months, years or hundreds of years.
Though at much longer time scales of many millions of years, we can
look at other stars similar to the Sun, but differing from it in age
and discern a common pattern. Young stars of the G type sub dwarf
category of which our Sun is a member , are very turbulent and we are
fortunate that presently, we do not orbit one. Whereas middle aged G
types like our Sun are relatively benign. Although our giver of life
does occasionally let fly with a monster solar wind flare, coming
with little or no warning. Which could kill any astronauts
unfortunate enough to be outside the protection of the earths thick
atmosphere and magnetic shield at the time.

It is a pity that we cannot orbit space craft, half way between the
earth and the Sun. We would of course need several to have continuous
coverage ensuring that there was at least one between us and the Sun
at all times. But as yet a system of this sort giving perhaps a days
warning of what is coming our way is beyond our present capabilities.

Meanwhile however NASA has come up with another useful observer of
the Sun , albeit only an hour or two from earth at solar wind travel
speeds. Launching in June 2001. The Genesis mission spacecraft is due
to take up an orbit one million miles sunward of earth. It will take
about 3 months to get out there , to the Lagrange L1 earth/sun
gravity balance point. From where it will orbit L1 once every 6
months , and having completed 4 orbits in two years , collecting
solar wind particles. It will be ordered to loop back past the earth.
Swinging about 1.5 million miles beyond the earth before returning
into a capture orbit around the earth. Able as it passes near the
earth to release a recovery capsule planned to descend over Utah USA
in 2004. THe capsule will contain the collected solar wind material,
analysis of which should reveal a great deal of new data about the
various elements released by the Sun, together with very important
information about their isotopic composition.