Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. W. Dean Pesnell,  Dr. David Livingston.  Topics:  Sunspots, solar cycles, sunspots and Earth's climate plus more. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We do not permit the commercial use of any Space Show program or part thereof, nor do we permit Space Show programs to be edited, placed on YouTube, or other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted in news articles, papers, academic & research work but must be cited or referenced in the proper citation format. Contact Dr. Livingston for questions about our copyright and trademark policies which we do enforce.  This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com.  Remember, your Amazon Purchases Can Help Support The Space Show/OGLF (www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.  Please note that audio and transition issues are a result of copying the John Batchelor broadcast & are not within my control as they originate in the Batchelor studio.

John Batchelor and I welcomed Dr. W. Dean Pesnell of the Solar Dynamics Observatory at NASA Goddard to discuss sunspot activity, the solar minimum, sunspot history going back to the Maunder Minimum from the period of 1645-1710 which was the most famous period of The Little Ice Age.  We talked about solar cycles, the solar minimum and maximum and the variation in sunspots. Also the relationship of sunspots to Earth's climate, particularly the upper atmosphere of Earth.  Solar Cycle 24 and the new cycle, Solar cycle 25 were discussed along with current thinking on what causes the solar cycle and sunspots.  One of the big questions to be answered is why sunspots go up and down in number.  Our guest did say that other solar systems stars have solar cycles too but they are all over the map in terms of their period.  Toward the end of this double segment Hotel Mars program, I asked if there was a way to try to manipulate the sun to influence sunspot activity.  He said no but listen to his answer.  Note what he said about Mark Twain.  As we were ending, John asked him was science project for solar research would he want to do were money no issue.  He said we needed to learn much more about the sun's electrical field. He would like to see a type of mission that he referred to as a sun skimmer.  He explained his idea in full before we ended the program.

You can email Mr. Batchelor or Dr. Pesnell through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.  Our guest can also be reached through his NASA Goddard website page.