2725: Sunspot Cycle - Revision history

FaviFake at 10:42, 28 July 2025

2025-07-28T10:42:56Z

KingPenguin: /* Explanation added link to 2930 */

2024-05-17T01:01:41Z

‎Explanation added link to 2930

Raviolio: /* Explanation */

2024-01-12T16:16:53Z

‎Explanation

Raviolio: /* Explanation */ rewriting parts

2024-01-12T16:16:10Z

‎Explanation: rewriting parts

Jkshapiro: /* Explanation */ Omit needless words

2023-11-14T00:51:18Z

‎Explanation: Omit needless words

Xurkitree10: /* Explanation */

2023-03-08T18:42:05Z

‎Explanation

JLZ0kTC5 at 21:31, 30 January 2023

2023-01-30T21:31:29Z

Mushrooms at 10:01, 27 January 2023

2023-01-27T10:01:32Z

172.70.162.222: Undo revision 304972 by 172.71.254.27 (talk) Not so clear, given any number of other candidates... Sending this bit into the bit of the Talk page where it might better becspe ulated upon.

2023-01-19T01:11:18Z

Undo revision 304972 by 172.71.254.27 (talk) Not so clear, given any number of other candidates... Sending this bit into the bit of the Talk page where it might better becspe ulated upon.

172.71.254.27: /* Explanation */

2023-01-19T00:21:05Z

‎Explanation

@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 [[Category:Line graphs]]
 [[Category:Internet]] <!--memes-->
-[[Category:Kids]]
+[[Category:Comics featuring children]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:01, 17 May 2024
Line 20:		Line 20:

	The title text indicates the effect on internet memes that the special solar cycle has had. During the 2010s in our universe there were many '90s kid' memes. Those were also popular in this universe, but they reflect that the Earth had at that time been dark since the 2000s, and thus only those born in the 90s and before would remember dawn or the feeling of the warm sun on their faces.		The title text indicates the effect on internet memes that the special solar cycle has had. During the 2010s in our universe there were many '90s kid' memes. Those were also popular in this universe, but they reflect that the Earth had at that time been dark since the 2000s, and thus only those born in the 90s and before would remember dawn or the feeling of the warm sun on their faces.
		+
		+	Sunspot cycles were discussed in [[2930: Google Solar Cycle]].

	==Transcript==		==Transcript==

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Explanation==
-The {{w|solar cycle}} is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the Sun's activity (sunspots,  solar radiation, ejecta, and solar flares), from a period of {{w|Solar minimum|minimal activity}} to {{w|Solar maximum|maximum solar activity}}. Researchers use specially modified telescopes to study the sun. Sunspots are areas on the sun which are slightly less hot than the surrounding material, so they appear as black patches when viewed through these telescopes, but they're not visible to the naked eye and do not meaningfully impact the amount of light that reaches the Earth.
+The {{w|solar cycle}} is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the Sun's activity (sunspots,  solar radiation, ejecta, and solar flares), from a period of {{w|Solar minimum|minimal activity}} to {{w|Solar maximum|maximum solar activity}}. Researchers use specially modified telescopes to study the sun. Sunspots are areas on the sun which are slightly less hot than the surrounding material, so they appear as dark patches when viewed through these telescopes, but they do not meaningfully impact the amount of light that reaches the Earth.
 This comic imagines an alternate reality where sunspots are literally black patches on the surface of the sun, void of all luminance, so the amount of light that the Earth receives swings drastically over an 11-year cycle. As the text above the chart suggests, the inhabitants of Earth in this reality are so accustomed to the extreme decade-long cycle of darkness and light that they don't even consider ''why'' it's pitch black for 10 years straight, and so Randall helpfully created this chart to explain.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-This comic makes a joke that when the absolute number of sunspots appears to decrease it is not because they disappear, but because they get so crowded that they begin to merge, and thus the number of individual spots decreases whereas the area of the sun covered by sunspots continues to increase to near total 'darkness'. This causes there to be a completely dark Sun after 11 years, at which point any new sunspots are ''bright'' patches, and the next 11-year cycle repeats the process but accumulating bright spots until eventually it is all bright once more, giving a total bright/dark cycle of 22 years.
+The {{w|solar cycle}} is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the Sun's activity (sunspots,  solar radiation, ejecta, and solar flares), from a period of {{w|Solar minimum|minimal activity}} to {{w|Solar maximum|maximum solar activity}}. Researchers use specially modified telescopes to study the sun. Sunspots are areas on the sun which are slightly less hot than the surrounding material, so they appear as black patches when viewed through these telescopes, but they're not visible to the naked eye and do not meaningfully impact the amount of light that reaches the Earth.
-The curve showing the number of differentiable sunspots covers a bit more than 11 years, one full cycle of our normal Sun. During that time the number of sunspots first increases and then decreases down to zero. At the end of this cycle our Sun has returned to its starting brightness. The comic's sun, however, has gone from fully bright to fully dark; its full cycle takes 22 years. The number of distinct spots (of either kind) first increases and then decreases as they merge into just one Sun-enveloping spot. Then the other type of spot appears and begins to dominate once more.
+This comic imagines an alternate reality where sunspots are literally black patches on the surface of the sun, void of all luminance, so the amount of light that the Earth receives swings drastically over an 11-year cycle. As the text above the chart suggests, the inhabitants of Earth in this reality are so accustomed to the extreme decade-long cycle of darkness and light that they don't even consider ''why'' it's pitch black for 10 years straight, and so Randall helpfully created this chart to explain.
-Below is a graph showing the number of sunspots as a function of time from around 1965 to 2025. Periods where the sun is dark are shown with black under the curve, and in transition periods with lines of darkness getting closer together on the way to 'fully' dark area plus vals of light reinserting themselves in the lightening part of the cycle. Also for clarity the troughs are labeled with the sun being bright or dark. It is always when there are few spots that the sun is either completely free from spots and thus bright, or completely covered and thus dark. The maxima are always during the height of the transition between the two extremes, with a wide swathe of the time around the minima being mostly light or mostly dark, alternating at around a decade of each predominating.
+Below is a graph showing the number of sunspots as a function of time from around 1965 to 2025. During the periods of heightened solar activity, the area of the graph is shown in black, while lighter periods are shown as white. For clarity the troughs are labeled with the sun being bright or dark. It is always when there are few spots that the sun is either completely free from spots and thus bright, or completely covered and thus dark. The maxima are always during the height of the transition between the two extremes, with a wide swathe of the time around the minima being mostly light or mostly dark, alternating at around a decade of each predominating.
-All this would obviously be catastrophic if it happened in our version of the universe, as during a dark phase insufficient light would be coming from the Sun, and the Earth could freeze if all the energy from the Sun was reduced. If the spots only affect light in the visible spectrum, then Earth would not freeze but plants would have trouble with photosynthesis and other natural processes would be interrupted. In our universe sunspots cool the area of the Sun where they appear, relative to the rest of the surface (50-75% of the nearly 6000K 'norm'), but they are far from being actually dark; [https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/workbook/sunspot.html NASA says] that each sunspot on its own would glow orange, brighter than the full Moon. So even in a completely sunspot-covered Sun, the Sun would still be brighter than (with a typically bright Sun illuminating it) the Moon, and far brighter than the dark-time Moon would become (possibly causing issues for nocturnal life, as well). It would be possible to see it (and see by it) even if the heat delivered were very low and even noon would seem to be {{wiktionary|crepuscular}} by our normal expectations. See more in the title text explanation.
+All this would obviously be catastrophic if it happened in our version of the universe, as during a dark phase insufficient light would be coming from the Sun, and the Earth could freeze if all the energy from the Sun was reduced. If the spots only affect light in the visible spectrum, then Earth would not freeze but plants would have trouble with photosynthesis and other natural processes would be interrupted. In our universe sunspots cool the area of the Sun where they appear, relative to the rest of the surface (50-75% of the nearly 6000K 'norm'), but they are far from being actually dark; [https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/workbook/sunspot.html NASA says] that each sunspot on its own would glow orange, brighter than the full Moon. So even in a completely sunspot-covered Sun, the Sun would still be brighter than (with a typically bright Sun illuminating it) the Moon, and far brighter than the dark-time Moon would become (possibly causing issues for nocturnal life, as well). It would be possible to see it (and see by it) even if the heat delivered were very low and even noon would seem to be {{wiktionary|crepuscular}} by our normal expectations. These problems are obviously not a serious threat in the reality of the comic, as the Sun is truly dark and yet people and natural systems have long survived these dark periods and adapted accordingly.
 The title text indicates the effect on internet memes that the special solar cycle has had. During the 2010s in our universe there were many '90s kid' memes. Those were also popular in this universe, but they reflect that the Earth had at that time been dark since the 2000s, and thus only those born in the 90s and before would remember dawn or the feeling of the warm sun on their faces.
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:51, 14 November 2023
Line 17:		Line 17:

	Below is a graph showing the number of sunspots as a function of time from around 1965 to 2025. Periods where the sun is dark are shown with black under the curve, and in transition periods with lines of darkness getting closer together on the way to 'fully' dark area plus vals of light reinserting themselves in the lightening part of the cycle. Also for clarity the troughs are labeled with the sun being bright or dark. It is always when there are few spots that the sun is either completely free from spots and thus bright, or completely covered and thus dark. The maxima are always during the height of the transition between the two extremes, with a wide swathe of the time around the minima being mostly light or mostly dark, alternating at around a decade of each predominating.		Below is a graph showing the number of sunspots as a function of time from around 1965 to 2025. Periods where the sun is dark are shown with black under the curve, and in transition periods with lines of darkness getting closer together on the way to 'fully' dark area plus vals of light reinserting themselves in the lightening part of the cycle. Also for clarity the troughs are labeled with the sun being bright or dark. It is always when there are few spots that the sun is either completely free from spots and thus bright, or completely covered and thus dark. The maxima are always during the height of the transition between the two extremes, with a wide swathe of the time around the minima being mostly light or mostly dark, alternating at around a decade of each predominating.
−
−	At times, this closely synchronizes with the calendar decades. From this curve it can be seen that the Sun was bright across the 1990s, but not in the dark 1980s or the dark time from around 2001 to 2014. This fact is mentioned in the title text (see below). Similarly the 1970s were mostly bright, after the largely dark 1960s, the width of the transition periods covering the marked decade-defining years in slightly offset ways compared to the neighboring ones. After the darkness began around 2000, the shift was such that it finally got bright again around 2014, with darkness returning around 2024. This is because of the sunspot cycles being 11 years (making the illumination cycle 22 years) and eventually it no longer credibly meshes with the arbitrary decadal cut-offs.

	All this would obviously be catastrophic if it happened in our version of the universe, as during a dark phase insufficient light would be coming from the Sun, and the Earth could freeze if all the energy from the Sun was reduced. If the spots only affect light in the visible spectrum, then Earth would not freeze but plants would have trouble with photosynthesis and other natural processes would be interrupted. In our universe sunspots cool the area of the Sun where they appear, relative to the rest of the surface (50-75% of the nearly 6000K 'norm'), but they are far from being actually dark; [https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/workbook/sunspot.html NASA says] that each sunspot on its own would glow orange, brighter than the full Moon. So even in a completely sunspot-covered Sun, the Sun would still be brighter than (with a typically bright Sun illuminating it) the Moon, and far brighter than the dark-time Moon would become (possibly causing issues for nocturnal life, as well). It would be possible to see it (and see by it) even if the heat delivered were very low and even noon would seem to be {{wiktionary\|crepuscular}} by our normal expectations. See more in the title text explanation.		All this would obviously be catastrophic if it happened in our version of the universe, as during a dark phase insufficient light would be coming from the Sun, and the Earth could freeze if all the energy from the Sun was reduced. If the spots only affect light in the visible spectrum, then Earth would not freeze but plants would have trouble with photosynthesis and other natural processes would be interrupted. In our universe sunspots cool the area of the Sun where they appear, relative to the rest of the surface (50-75% of the nearly 6000K 'norm'), but they are far from being actually dark; [https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/workbook/sunspot.html NASA says] that each sunspot on its own would glow orange, brighter than the full Moon. So even in a completely sunspot-covered Sun, the Sun would still be brighter than (with a typically bright Sun illuminating it) the Moon, and far brighter than the dark-time Moon would become (possibly causing issues for nocturnal life, as well). It would be possible to see it (and see by it) even if the heat delivered were very low and even noon would seem to be {{wiktionary\|crepuscular}} by our normal expectations. See more in the title text explanation.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:42, 8 March 2023
Line 10:		Line 10:

	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|Created by a NINETIES KID WHO ATE THE SUN - PLEASE change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}~~
−
	This comic is a reference to the {{w\|solar cycle}}, which is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the Sun's activity from a period of minimal levels of various related phenomena ({{w\|sunspots}}, solar radiation, ejecta, and solar flares) to one of maximum activity in these areas. As the cycle continues, the Sun returns to minimal activity and starts over. Without actually studying the Sun, however, there is no discernible difference to our daily lives here on Earth, and studying the Sun in enough detail is difficult due to its intrinsic and eye-damaging brightness whenever viewed directly. The comic may be a joke that nobody ever looks outside anymore, and so it may be possible to convince people that the sun has gone away. It's worth noting that the umbra (darkest portion) of a sunspot is still roughly 3000-4500K, so if the sun were to express as one massive umbra it would still be very visible, possibly appearing as a {{w\|Stellar_classification#Class_K\|type K}} star.		This comic is a reference to the {{w\|solar cycle}}, which is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the Sun's activity from a period of minimal levels of various related phenomena ({{w\|sunspots}}, solar radiation, ejecta, and solar flares) to one of maximum activity in these areas. As the cycle continues, the Sun returns to minimal activity and starts over. Without actually studying the Sun, however, there is no discernible difference to our daily lives here on Earth, and studying the Sun in enough detail is difficult due to its intrinsic and eye-damaging brightness whenever viewed directly. The comic may be a joke that nobody ever looks outside anymore, and so it may be possible to convince people that the sun has gone away. It's worth noting that the umbra (darkest portion) of a sunspot is still roughly 3000-4500K, so if the sun were to express as one massive umbra it would still be very visible, possibly appearing as a {{w\|Stellar_classification#Class_K\|type K}} star.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 {{incomplete|Created by a NINETIES KID WHO ATE THE SUN - PLEASE change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
-This comic is a reference to the {{w|solar cycle}}, which is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the Sun's activity from a period of minimal levels of various related phenomena ({{w|sunspots}},  solar radiation, ejecta, and solar flares) to one of maximum activity in these areas. As the cycle continues, the Sun returns to minimal activity and starts over. Without actually studying the Sun, however, there is no discernable difference to our daily lives here on Earth, and studying the Sun in enough detail is difficult due to its intrinsic and eye-damaging brightness whenever viewed directly. The comic may be a joke that nobody ever looks outside anymore, and so it may be possible to convince people that the sun has gone away. It's worth noting that the umbra (darkest portion) of a sunspot is still roughly 3000-4500K, so if the sun were to express as one massive umbra it would still be very visible, possibly appearing as a {{w|Stellar_classification#Class_K|type K}} star.
+This comic is a reference to the {{w|solar cycle}}, which is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the Sun's activity from a period of minimal levels of various related phenomena ({{w|sunspots}},  solar radiation, ejecta, and solar flares) to one of maximum activity in these areas. As the cycle continues, the Sun returns to minimal activity and starts over. Without actually studying the Sun, however, there is no discernible difference to our daily lives here on Earth, and studying the Sun in enough detail is difficult due to its intrinsic and eye-damaging brightness whenever viewed directly. The comic may be a joke that nobody ever looks outside anymore, and so it may be possible to convince people that the sun has gone away. It's worth noting that the umbra (darkest portion) of a sunspot is still roughly 3000-4500K, so if the sun were to express as one massive umbra it would still be very visible, possibly appearing as a {{w|Stellar_classification#Class_K|type K}} star.
 This comic makes a joke that when the absolute number of sunspots appears to decrease it is not because they disappear, but because they get so crowded that they begin to merge, and thus the number of individual spots decreases whereas the area of the sun covered by sunspots continues to increase to near total 'darkness'. This causes there to be a completely dark Sun after 11 years, at which point any new sunspots are ''bright'' patches, and the next 11-year cycle repeats the process but accumulating bright spots until eventually it is all bright once more, giving a total bright/dark cycle of 22 years.
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 Below is a graph showing the number of sunspots as a function of time from around 1965 to 2025. Periods where the sun is dark are shown with black under the curve, and in transition periods with lines of darkness getting closer together on the way to 'fully' dark area plus vals of light reinserting themselves in the lightening part of the cycle. Also for clarity the troughs are labeled with the sun being bright or dark. It is always when there are few spots that the sun is either completely free from spots and thus bright, or completely covered and thus dark. The maxima are always during the height of the transition between the two extremes, with a wide swathe of the time around the minima being mostly light or mostly dark, alternating at around a decade of each predominating.
-At times, this closely synchronises with the calendar decades. From this curve it can be seen that the Sun was bright across the 1990s, but not in the dark 1980s or the dark time from around 2001 to 2014. This fact is mentioned in the title text (see below). Similarly the 1970s were mostly bright, after the largely dark 1960s, the width of the transition periods covering the marked decade-defining years in slightly offset ways compared to the neighbouring ones. After the darkness began around 2000, the shift was such that it finally got bright again around 2014, with darkness returning around 2024. This is because of the sunspot cycles being 11 years (making the illumination cycle 22 years) and eventually it no longer credibly meshes with the arbitrary decadal cut-offs.
+At times, this closely synchronizes with the calendar decades. From this curve it can be seen that the Sun was bright across the 1990s, but not in the dark 1980s or the dark time from around 2001 to 2014. This fact is mentioned in the title text (see below). Similarly the 1970s were mostly bright, after the largely dark 1960s, the width of the transition periods covering the marked decade-defining years in slightly offset ways compared to the neighboring ones. After the darkness began around 2000, the shift was such that it finally got bright again around 2014, with darkness returning around 2024. This is because of the sunspot cycles being 11 years (making the illumination cycle 22 years) and eventually it no longer credibly meshes with the arbitrary decadal cut-offs.
 All this would obviously be catastrophic if it happened in our version of the universe, as during a dark phase insufficient light would be coming from the Sun, and the Earth could freeze if all the energy from the Sun was reduced. If the spots only affect light in the visible spectrum, then Earth would not freeze but plants would have trouble with photosynthesis and other natural processes would be interrupted. In our universe sunspots cool the area of the Sun where they appear, relative to the rest of the surface (50-75% of the nearly 6000K 'norm'), but they are far from being actually dark; [https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/workbook/sunspot.html NASA says] that each sunspot on its own would glow orange, brighter than the full Moon. So even in a completely sunspot-covered Sun, the Sun would still be brighter than (with a typically bright Sun illuminating it) the Moon, and far brighter than the dark-time Moon would become (possibly causing issues for nocturnal life, as well). It would be possible to see it (and see by it) even if the heat delivered were very low and even noon would seem to be {{wiktionary|crepuscular}} by our normal expectations. See more in the title text explanation.

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:01, 27 January 2023
Line 74:		Line 74:
	[[Category:Line graphs]]		[[Category:Line graphs]]
	[[Category:Internet]] <!--memes-->		[[Category:Internet]] <!--memes-->
		+	[[Category:Kids]]