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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

The Solar Cycle

David H. Hathaway
- 02 Mar 2010 - 
- Vol. 12, Iss: 1, pp 4-4
TLDR
An examination of prediction techniques for the solar cycle is examined and a closer look at cycles 23 and 24 is taken.
Abstract
The Solar Cycle is reviewed. The 11-year cycle of solar activity is characterized by the rise and fall in the numbers and surface area of sunspots. We examine a number of other solar activity indicators including the 10.7 cm radio flux, the total solar irradiance, the magnetic field, flares and coronal mass ejections, geomagnetic activity, galactic cosmic ray fluxes, and radioisotopes in tree rings and ice cores that vary in association with the sunspots. We examine the characteristics of individual solar cycles including their maxima and minima, cycle periods and amplitudes, cycle shape, and the nature of active latitudes, hemispheres, and longitudes. We examine long-term variability including the Maunder Minimum, the Gleissberg Cycle, and the Gnevyshev-Ohl Rule. Short-term variability includes the 154-day periodicity, quasi-biennial variations, and double peaked maxima. We conclude with an examination of prediction techniques for the solar cycle.

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI

The Solar Oscillations Investigation - Michelson Doppler Imager

TL;DR: The Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) as mentioned in this paper was used to probe the interior of the Sun by measuring the photospheric manifestations of solar oscillations, revealing the static and dynamic properties of the convection zone and core.
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The Solar Oscillations Investigation — Michelson Doppler Imager

TL;DR: The Solar Oscillations Investigation (SOI) as mentioned in this paper uses the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument to probe the interior of the Sun by measuring the photospheric manifestations of solar oscillations.
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The Maunder Minimum

TL;DR: In the years around a sunspot maximum there is seldom a day when a number of spots cannot be seen, and often hundreds are present.
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The passage of energetic charged particles through interplanetary space

TL;DR: In this article, a general expression for the particle diffusion coefficient kij, including both scattering in magnetic irregularities and systematic pressure drifts, was derived from the condition that energetic solar particles in interplanetary space random walk in the irregularities in the large-scale inter-planetary magnetic field, and the observed fields show that the diffusion coefficient is of the order of 1021-1022 cm2/sec.
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