It Was the Blankest Year of the Space Age

Astronomers say that 2008 was the blankest year of the space age . What they mean is that there were fewer spots on the sun last year than there’s been since 1954. Sunspots come and go in eleven year cycles and from what they say, we’ve reached the end of one of these phases and are just getting started on another.

Information about sunspots and other spaceweather is of course very important to life here on earth. Major spaceweather activity can really mess with everything from satellites to toasters. With our world as wired as it is, if there were a space storm as severe as the ones recorded in 1859 and 1921, the cost of damages could be in the trillions of dollars.

As interesting and important as that is, what draws me to the sunspot research is talk that humans behave differently during various times in the cycle. Stocks, styles, jumps in technology all might be affected by the magnetic movements of the sun. Did an important pattern in your life start in 1996? Is it one that‘s been in transition since some time in 2007? What about political trends or artistic movements?

Spaceweather.com just added an application to their website that lets you look at sunspot activity from 1755 to right now . You can plug in any date and it’ll show you what the sun was up to that day. It’s fantastic.

I checked out my birthday (pretty low level activity) and the birthdays of a few other key people. Interesting. But even more so are trends from one time to another. Take a look yourself. If you like pattern seeking as much as I do, you’ll have a great time.