{"id":1170,"date":"2011-06-15T08:13:30","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T13:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=1170"},"modified":"2011-06-15T08:13:30","modified_gmt":"2011-06-15T13:13:30","slug":"sunspots-hibernate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/sunspots-hibernate\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists predict sun may ‘hibernate’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Photo Source: NASA<\/p><\/div>\n

News sources are publishing information regarding new scientific research which puts our sunspot cycle into question. How does this affect the average shortwave listener? Periods of high sunspot numbers generally produce excellent DX conditions. In other words, with modest equipment, listeners can hear even weak signals around the world. Amateur radio operators find that they can communicate around the world with very low power.<\/p>\n

Our current cycle (cycle 24) has been relatively uneventful compared to the past–but the prediction for Cycle 25 is scary. Indeed, it may not even happen on schedule. The news sources below explain in detail.<\/p>\n

Spaceref.com:<\/a><\/strong>
\nA missing jet stream, fading spots, and slower activity near the poles say that our Sun is heading for a rest period even as it is acting up for the first time in years, according to scientists at the National Solar Observatory (NSO) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).<\/p>\n

As the current sunspot cycle, Cycle 24, begins to ramp up toward maximum, independent studies of the solar interior, visible surface, and the corona indicate that the next 11-year solar sunspot cycle, Cycle 25, will be greatly reduced or may not happen at all.<\/p>\n

From Yahoo:<\/a><\/strong>
\nFor years, scientists have been predicting the Sun would by around 2012 move into solar maximum, a period of intense flares and sunspot activity, but lately a curious calm has suggested quite the opposite.<\/p>\n

According to three studies released in the United States on Tuesday, experts believe the familiar sunspot cycle may be shutting down and heading toward a pattern of inactivity unseen since the 17th century.<\/p>\n

Science Mag:<\/a><\/strong>
\nThings may be about to get very dull on the sun. Three different measurements of solar activity, reported by scientists at a press conference today, suggest that the next 11-year-long solar cycle will be far quieter than the current one. In fact, it may not happen at all: Sunspots, the enormous magnetic storms that erupt on the sun’s surface as the cycle builds, might disappear entirely for the first time in approximately 400 years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News sources are publishing information regarding new scientific research which puts our sunspot cycle into question. How does this affect the average shortwave listener? Periods of high sunspot numbers generally produce excellent DX conditions. In other words, with modest equipment, listeners can hear even weak signals around the world. Amateur radio operators find that they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[412,413,414,415,411],"class_list":["post-1170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-propagation","tag-solar-cycle-24","tag-solar-cycle-25","tag-sun-spot-cycle","tag-sunspots"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-iS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46847,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/solar-cycle-25-sunspot-cylce-could-be-one-of-the-strongest-on-record\/","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":0},"title":"Solar Cycle 25: Sunspot Cycle “Could Be One Of The Strongest On Record”","author":"Thomas","date":"December 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: SpaceRef via Eric McFadden) In direct contradiction to the official forecast, a team of scientists led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is predicting that the Sunspot Cycle that started this fall could be one of the strongest since record-keeping began. In a new article published in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sunspots-e1535317073562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sunspots-e1535317073562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Sunspots-e1535317073562.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62835,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/a-new-solar-cycle-wrinkle\/","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":1},"title":"A New Solar Cycle Wrinkle","author":"Robert Gulley","date":"May 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An interesting article caught my attention on spaceweather.com concerning new research on what is called the Gleissberg Cycle. Interested? Read on! THE COUNTER-INTUITIVE QUIET CONTINUES: Big sunspots usually produce big solar flares. Giant sunspot 4079 is an exception to the rule. All week long, it has been strangely quiet, producing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sunspots-070723-500LR-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sunspots-070723-500LR-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Sunspots-070723-500LR-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41285,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/a-new-sunspot-emerges-breaking-40-day-spotless-streak\/","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":2},"title":"A new sunspot emerges, breaking 40 day spotless streak","author":"Thomas","date":"December 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Spaceweather.com via Michael Bird) A SUNSPOT FROM THE NEXT SOLAR CYCLE: Breaking a string of 40 spotless days, a new sunspot is emerging in the sun's southern hemisphere. It comes from the next solar cycle. The unnumbered spot is inset in this map of solar magnetic fields from NASA's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/unnamed-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40431,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/one-sunspot-into-solar-cycle-25\/","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":3},"title":"One sunspot into Solar Cycle 25","author":"Thomas","date":"November 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Spaceweather Archive via Michael Bird) Nov. 1, 2019:\u00a0Breaking a string of 28 spotless days, a new sunspot (AR2750) is emerging in the sun\u2019s southern hemisphere\u2013and it\u2019s a member of the next solar cycle. A picture of the sunspot is inset in this magnetic map of the sun\u2019s surface from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Susnapot-Cycle-25.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Susnapot-Cycle-25.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Susnapot-Cycle-25.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36830,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/noaa-nasa-panel-publishes-solar-cycle-25-preliminary-forecast\/","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":4},"title":"NOAA\/NASA panel publishes Solar Cycle 25 Preliminary Forecast","author":"Thomas","date":"April 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: NOAA via Michael Bird) The NOAA\/NASA co-chaired international panel to forecast Solar Cycle 25 released a preliminary forecast for Solar Cycle 25 on April 5, 2019. The consensus: Cycle 25 will be similar in size to cycle 24. It is expected that sunspot maximum will occur no earlier than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/SolarCycle25-Preliminary-Forecast.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/SolarCycle25-Preliminary-Forecast.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/SolarCycle25-Preliminary-Forecast.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/SolarCycle25-Preliminary-Forecast.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57182,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/spaceweather-com-radio-amateurs-hack-a-nasa-spacecraft\/","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":5},"title":"Spaceweather.com: “Radio Amateurs Hack a NASA Spacecraft” and Sunspot High for Cycle 25","author":"Thomas","date":"July 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, Troy Riedel and Jock Elliott, who share the following news items from Spaceweather.com: RADIO AMATEURS HACK A NASA SPACECRAFT:\u00a0Ham radio operators are picking up a strong signal from space. It's NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft returning home after 17 years. \"I'm having fun with STEREO-A,\" reports\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/splash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}