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These 17th-century drawings of the sun by Kepler add fire to solar cycle mystery
July 30, 2024
"Half-forgotten" sunspot drawings by Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler are showing us more about how the sun's cycle of activities work.
Kepler (1571-1630), who was born in what we now call Germany, is best known in astronomy for formulating the laws of planetary motion.
His diverse interests, however, included looking at the sun.
Drawings he made of a sunspot group in 1607, a new study reveals, show the "tail-end of the solar cycle" with instrumentation before the telescope was more widely available in the early 17th century.
"The group's findings … offer a key to resolving the controversy on the duration of solar cycles at the beginning of the 17th century," Japan's Nagoya University wrote in a statement.
Known as the Maunder Minimum, this period (between 1645 and 1715) was said to be an era of fewer sunspots than usual, which in turn led to colder periods on Earth than the norm of the day.
Since Kepler lacked the telescope, he instead examined the sun using camera obscura.
That method used a "small hole in a wall to project the sun's image onto a sheet of paper," the statement noted. Kepler at first thought he was witnessing a transit of Mercury across the sun, but later clarified it was a sunspot group.
"This is the oldest sunspot sketch ever made with an instrumental observation and a projection," lead author Hisashi Hayakawa, an assistant professor and solar scientist at Nagoya, said in a statement. He added the significance of Kepler's solar drawings was overlooked, over the eras:
"It has only been discussed in the context of the history of science and had not been used for quantitative analyses for the solar cycles."
Key to the researchers' analysis was tracking how sunspots move across a solar cycle: "Their occurrence, frequency, and latitudinal distributions appear in cycles that affect solar radiation and space weather," the statement noted.
As such, they worked to narrow down what latitude Kepler's sunspots were observed at.
The researchers say their analysis of Kepler's drawings revealed four major things.
First, the sunspot group was at a lower latitude than previously believed (after taking into account the solar position angle from his location); related to that, future findings in the telescope showed sunspots at higher latitudes, suggesting "a typical transition" between cycles.
The latitude change suggests the sunspot group was at the end of one solar cycle instead of the beginning of another, based on the latitude of the sunspots, which formulated the third finding.
Finally, Kepler's observations may show the transition zone between solar cycles, which the study pegged between 1607 and 1610.
While some researchers previously theorized the Maunder Minimum arose from irregular solar cycles different than the typical 11 years, Kepler's records showed "a regular duration" for the solar cycle he observed in 1607, the study added.
But the finding is not without controversy: tree ring cycles from previous studies have suggested normal solar cycles in some work, and abnormal solar cycles in others.
Hayakawa urged further examinations on the matter. "It is extremely important to check these [tree rings] reconstructions with independent – preferably observational – records," he said.
The new study was published in The Astrophysical Journal on July 25.
https://www.space.com/sun-johannes-kepler-sunspots-drawings-solar-cycle
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad57c9
Strange UFOs Filmed North of Washington in Kelowna, BC
July 27, 2024
The Vandenhoorn family of Kelowna, British Columbia, was gathered on the rooftop patio, waiting for the ultimate Mother Nature light show.
They saw something else.
"Waiting for the aurora borealis to show up, we started seeing those groups of things just flying through the sky really fast." – Bobby
Vandenhoorn.
Many people think of Starlink Satellites when watching the video, which was Vandenhoorn's first thought, but he wasn't so sure after the orbs' odd movements.
Appearing to group together and then separate, the flight pattern of the orbs was "really, really strange."
https://kpq.com/ixp/137/p/kelowna-bc-ufos/
UFO Sighted In Spain's Ibiza? Video Shows Mysterious Light Zipping Across Sky
July 31, 2024, 06:38 IST
With the increasing curiosity about extraterrestrial life, UFO sightings have become a common topic online.
The internet is flooded with videos claiming to capture evidence of aliens and UFOs, each one stirring debate and intrigue.
Recently, a new clip surfaced showing tourists in Spain’s Ibiza experiencing an unexpected encounter.
They were taken aback while visiting the island Es Vedra where they reportedly witnessed a UFO.
In the viral video, a few tourists are captured rushing towards a mysterious light in the sky.
As the camera focuses on the light hovering near the moon, it swiftly zips across the sky in just a few seconds, leaving the onlookers stunned and gasping in amazement.
The video was shared on Instagram with the caption, “A tourist vacationing in Ibiza reported seeing a UFO flying across the sky during their trip. What would you do?” Watch the viral video here:
The clip quickly captured widespread attention online, sparking a range of reactions in the comments section.
One user humorously wrote, “Bro that UFO took a pill in Ibiza,” while another joked, “Aliens are tryna party with us.”
Someone suggested, “This gotta be a promo for a movie. Shit was filmed like I’m watching Signs or something.”
Comments continued to roll in with a mix of curiosity and humour with remarks like “Aliens are tryna party with us” and “We got UFOs in Ibiza before GTA VI.”
A person jokingly wrote, “Wow the first UFO sighting outside of America,” while another noted, “They saw the bottled water prices and zoomed.”
Meanwhile, a user sharing their perspective, wrote, “Not gonna lie I do believe these things only because it’s not new.
There are documents of these sightings that are reported to look and behave exactly like this in places all over the world. Every UFO report is the same.
A glowing lit-up orb that moves the same way. There are “hot spots” all over the world where it is sighted regularly/more often than other places.”
Another pointed out, “Looks fake but Ibiza has a history of interesting things happening there. And Plato considered it an important location for humanity.”
https://www.news18.com/viral/ufo-sighted-in-spains-ibiza-video-shows-mysterious-light-zipping-across-sky-8984326.html
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-AzYSaNSPA/
>>21320510 both PB
National Whistleblower Day 2024
https://www.whistleblowers.org/national-whistleblower-day-2024/
DC Teases the Weirdest Robin Yet - a Literal Alien
https://screenrant.com/batman-robin-alien-green-lantern/