This image shows the sunspot numbers rising and falling through September 2000. The solid white line is the mean sunspot number prediction through the year 2006. You can see October 2000 is definitely near solar maximum.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA
Ulysses Going Strong During Solar Maximum
News story originally written on November 2, 2000
Did you know that the Sun can affect the Earth? It can!
During a time called solar maximum, the Sun is really active. That means it spits out lots of material. Some of it passes the Earth and can cause storms near the Earth that can damage our satellites, confuse animals or create awesome aurora in the sky.
It's important to understand how the Sun affects the Earth. The Ulysses space probe helps us understand the Sun. It has been studying the Sun for 10 years now. Right now, it is at the bottom of the Sun looking at the South pole of the Sun.
You might also be interested in:
It was another exciting and frustrating year for the space science program. It seemed that every step forward led to one backwards. Either way, NASA led the way to a great century of discovery. Unfortunately,
...more
The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on October 29th at 2:19 p.m. EST. The sky was clear and the weather was great. This was the America's 123rd manned space mission. A huge
...more
Scientists found a satellite orbiting the asteroid, Eugenia. This is the second one ever! A special telescope allows scientists to look through Earth's atmosphere. The first satellite found was Dactyl.
...more
The United States wants Russia to put the service module in orbit! The module is part of the International Space Station. It was supposed to be in space over 2 years ago. Russia just sent supplies to the
...more
A coronal mass ejection (CME) happened on the Sun last month. The material that was thrown out from this explosion passed the ACE spacecraft. ACE measured some exciting things as the CME material passed
...more
Trees and plants are a very important part of this Earth. Trees and plants are nature's air conditioning because they help keep our Earth cool. On a summer day, walking bare-foot on the sidewalk burns,
...more
There is something special happening in the night sky. Through mid-May, you will be able to see five planets at the same time! This doesn't happen very often, so you won't want to miss this. Use the links
...more
