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Solar physicist Scott
McIntosh (Nat'l
Center for Atmos-
pheric Research photo)
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The solar scientist who's
been bucking the tide of pessimism from most of his colleagues and predicting a
huge sunspot cycle (see News Bytes, Sept. 2020 issue) continues to see lots and
lots of spots in the future. According to spaceweather.com, Scott McIntosh of
the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, along with colleague
Bob Leamon of the University of Maryland/Baltimore County, are predicting that
a "terminator event," in which oppositely charged magnetic fields
collide near the sun's equator and annihilate each other, will be occurring
soon. This is a normal occurrence between solar cycles, they say, but the key
to predicting the strength of the new cycle lies in the timing between terminator
events – the longer the time between them, the weaker the new cycle will be.
They are predicting a short 10 years between the previous terminator event and
the upcoming one, and McIntosh says, "If the Terminator Event happens
soon, as we expect, new Solar Cycle 25 could have a magnitude that rivals the
top few since record-keeping began."
Asked about the fact that
most other solar scientists feel the new cycle will be a weak one, like its processor,
McIntosh replied, "What can I say? We're heretics!"
