Scientists Predict Big Solar Cycle from PhysOrg.com
Evidence is mounting: the next solar cycle is going to be a big one. Solar cycle 24, due to peak in 2010 or 2011 “looks like its going to be one of the most intense cycles since record-keeping began almost 400 years ago,” says solar physicist David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center. He and colleague Robert Wilson presented this conclusion last week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

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The largest-aperture radio telescope of its kind in the world will soak up microwaves from space to offer insights into the birth of our universe in unprecedented detail.

The joint project of Instituta Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, will wield a 50-meter diameter dish high atop the dormant Sierra Negra volcano, in the Mexican state of Puebla. Known as the LMT (Large Millimeter Telescope), the project will use some of the most advanced observational instrumentation available, including superconductor-based receiver circuitry and millimeter-wavelength camera systems to unlock the secrets of an evolving universe.

Scientists hope to unveil some of the most enigmatic features of deep space, including the composition of planetary atmospheres, the building blocks of comets and the life cycle of stars.

The telescope’s reflector will consist of 180 separate segments that will be automatically error-corrected by a 720-component actuator system. This architecture will ensure that the LMT reflector will maintain a high degree of surface accuracy under gravitational and wind loading, and variable temperature gradients.

LMT is scheduled to begin scientific operation in 2008.

What was originally expected to be an unremarkable rendezvous with a celestial object turned out to be anything but, as comet SWAN suddenly flared in the night sky earlier this week, with a magnitude sufficient for viewing with the naked eye.

The comet, classified as C/2006 M4, is visible near the constellation Corona Borealis, just after sunset in the western sky. Although it is not easy to spot within city limits due to light pollution, observers say that it’s simple to spot in the darkness of the countryside. Pete Lawrence, who photographed the comet from the U.K., told Space.com that it is a “fairly easy naked eye comet. The tail is now showing some interesting features, too.”

SWAN, which resembles a fuzzy star, can apparently be easily spotted with a good pair of binoculars. It has a surprisingly green tint, astronomers note, due to the presence of a gases such as diatomic carbon and cyanogen.

The comet, which was discovered last year by the SOHO spacecraft, will make its closest rendezvous with Earth today.Image credit: Pete Lawrence.