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NS reversals



At 12:05 PM -0400 5/6/98, LUDWIK KOWALSKI wrote:
How do NS reversals occur? Does B goes to zero everywhere and then starts
growing in the opposite direction? Or is the magnetic moment turning without
a significant change in magnitude? Perhaps Uranus is in the middle of a
reversion in which the magnitude is more or less constant.

We are all getting ready to observe a significant NS reversal of the Sun's
field over the next few years. It is predicted (how???) as being a bigger
than 'normal' in terms of solar flares, auroras, satellite destruction by
em pulses etc.

The sun reverses its magnetic field every 11 years or so, 22 years for a
complete cycle. The sun spots (in pairs?) that will be increasing soon are
said to be 'bundles' of magnetic flux breaking through the surface.

My impression is that the field becomes much more random and then regroups
in the opposite configuration.

When the earth's field is most randomized, we can expect much increased
genetic mutation caused by the unshielded charged particle radiation from
the sun. The van Allen radiation belts will disappear etc.

-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-
\ / \ / \ N / \ C / \ S / \ S / \ M / \ / \ /
`-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-'
Chuck Britton Education is what is left when
britton@odie.ncssm.edu you have forgotten everything
North Carolina School of Science & Math you learned in school.
(919) 286-3366 x224 Albert Einstein, 1936