My Science School

We are pretty proud of the human flight to the Moon and our footprints on the lunar surface. But did you know these footprints can last a million years on the surface of the Moon? It has been decades since humans last set foot on the Moon, but its surface is still marked with the historic footprints of the 12 astronauts who walked across it Unlike on Earth, there is no erosion by wind or water on the Moon because it has no atmosphere. The Moon is geologically inactive there are no earthquakes or volcanoes. So, nothing gets washed away and nothing gets eroded.

However, the Moon is exposed to bombardment by meteorites, which change the surface. One little spacerock could easily wipe out a footprint on the moon. And since the Moon has no atmosphere, it is exposed to the solar wind, a stream of charged particles coming from the sun, and over time this acts almost like weather on Earth to scour surfaces on the moon, but the process is very, very slow.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong put his left foot on the rocky Moon. It was the first human footprint on the Moon. They had taken TV cameras with them. The two astronauts walked on the Moon. They picked up rocks and dirt to bring back to Earth. The astronauts had much work to do. Then, the Eagle went back to meet astronaut Collins. He was in the Command Module working.

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin visited the moon 50 years ago, they left roughly 100 objects behind, including a portion of their lunar lander, the American flag and, yes, various kinds of trash. Those objects are still there, surrounded by rugged bootprints marking humanity’s first steps on another world. But that site, called Tranquillity Base, may not be as enduring as the legacy those prints represent.

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Nothing in the Universe is permanent. One of the most profound rules in all the Universe is that nothing lasts forever. With gravitational, electromagnetic and nuclear forces all acting on matter, practically everything we observe to exist today will face changes in the future. Even the stars, the most enormous collections that transform nuclear fuel in the cosmos, will someday all burn out, including our Sun. In about five billion years, the Sun will exhaust the hydrogen fuel in its core and start burning helium, forcing its transition into a red giant star. A red giant is a dying star in the final stages of stellar evolution. When the Sun turns into a red giant, it will expand and engulf the inner planets- possibly even Earth. After spending about one billion years as a red giant, the star will become a white dwarf, packing most of its initial mass into a sphere roughly the size of Earth. It will eventually become a black dwarf.

In about 5 billion years time the Sun will have exhausted all the hydrogen at its core. The core, which by then will consist of helium nuclei, will then shrink and nuclear reactions will take place in a large shell outside the core, rather than the core itself. The outer regions of the Sun will greatly expand and it will become a red giant.

It is unclear exactly how large the Sun will get when it becomes a red giant. Current estimates are that it will expand to 100-250 times its current diameter (ref 2). If we take the lower value, the innermost planet Mercury (but not Venus and the Earth) will be swallowed up by the Sun.  At the higher value, the Earth would also be inside the Sun.

When all of the helium in the core has been converted into carbon, nuclear reactions in the core will once again stop. The Sun will start to convert helium into carbon in a shell outside its core but will become more and more unstable. It will vary widely in brightness as it flares up and ejects some of its outer layers into space and then contracts again. Eventually the whole of the outer regions of the Sun will be blown away forming a glowing shell of plasma called a planetary nebula.

With the lower value, where the Sun expands to 100 times its current radius  value, on Earth the Sun would appear 10,000 times larger than it is today. The surface temperature of the Earth would be around 1500 degrees Celsius, hot enough for it glow a dull red colour. The Earth would have lost its atmosphere long before this and will be a bone dry scorched airless desert on which it will be impossible for life to exist.

Credit : Explaining Science

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Imagine walking on a planet that is full of diamond. Dubbed 55 Cancri e, an exoplanet twice the size of Earth, is composed of carbon mostly in the form of graphite and diamond. At least a third of the planet's mass is likely diamond as a result of the temperatures and pressures in the planet's interior. Further observations are necessary to confirm the nature of the planet. It orbits a Sun-like hot star called 55 Cancri A. Planets like this are vastly different from our Earth, which has relatively less carbon.

Astronomers discovered the planet in 2004 after looking at the spectrum of its parent star, 55 Cancri A, one of two stars in a binary system about 40 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cancer. There are at least four other planets in the same system, mostly discovered before 55 Cancri e. The team (led by the University of Texas at Austin's Barbara McArthur) discovered subtle tugs on the parent star that could be explained by the presence of yet another planet. While the planet's existence was challenged by a second research team in 2005, a separate team in 2006 confirmed it. 

Astronomers initially thought 55 Cancri e (abbreviated 55 Cnc e) had an orbital period of 2.8 days, but measurements in 2011 showed that the planet is much closer to its parent star. Observations with Canada's MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars) space telescope demonstrated an orbital period of less than 18 hours. Researchers estimated the surface temperature of 55 Cancri e could be as high as 4,892 F (2,700 C). 

Follow-up observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2012 showed that 55 Cancri e is much weirder than anticipated. While original estimates said the planet was dense and rocky, Spitzer suggested the planet includes a healthy proportion of light elements and compounds (such as water). However, the planet's high surface temperatures contribute to a "supercritical" fluid state, the researchers said, meaning that the gases are in a liquid-like state. 

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Fruit flies were the first organisms sent to space. For many years before sending mammals into space, such as dogs or humans, scientists studied Drosophila melanogaster (the common fruit fly) and its reactions to both radiation and space flight to understand the possible effects of space and a zero-gravity environment on humans. Starting in the 1910s, researchers conducted experiments on fruit flies because humans and fruit flies share many genes. On February 20, 1947, fruit flies became the first living and sentient organisms to go to space and return, which paved the way for human exploration. At the height of the Cold War and the Space Race, flies were sent on missions to space with great frequency, allowing scientists to study the nature of living and breeding in space. Scientists and researchers from the Soviet Union and the United States both used fruit flies for their research and missions.

Fruit flies have been used in recent years as the reality of Mars and Moon colonization becomes clearer. These flies further the understanding of the effects of weightlessness on the cardiovascular system, the immune system, and the genes of astronauts. Fruit flies have been invaluable assets to scientific discoveries that humankind have made, especially discoveries about space travel.

Mankind has long admired the heavens and wondered about space. Even after the Space Race was completed, advancements in space travel continued. Researchers continue to study the ability of life to survive in the harsh atmosphere of space, promote commercial development, expand and advance knowledge, and prepare future generations for exploration. Throughout time, Animals in space have ensured suitable conditions for human exploration. Larger animals including dogs, monkeys, cats, mice, and others, have been vital to many excursions, as have insects.

The fruit fly has frequently been utilized for space travel, due to its comparable genetics to that of humans. The short gestation period and quick maturing process allows their continued use. Additionally, a female fruit fly can lay one hundred eggs daily, and each egg requires less than ten days to fully mature. Since three-quarters of its genome compares to other organisms, fruit flies frequently proceed humans in space travel because their entire genetic makeup, including the sex chromosomes, have been sequenced by scientists.

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Who would have thought  that one day many things we read as science fiction and laughed at as merely an overactive  imagination were about to get real. This is all about the advances in science that are surreal and unfolding right before our eyes in the century itself.

Swanky spacesuit

Have you seen Buzz Lightyear (of Toy Story fame) in his smart spacesuit and wondered why astronauts don't get to wear stuff like that? It looks like they were having the very same thoughts because NASA has given its nod for the Z1 Spacesuit. Astronaut suits so far have been painfully difficult to get into and surprisingly, there have been no new variations since 1992! Surely, astronauts like fashionable wear too? The rear entry feature of the Z1 Spacesuit means that an astronaut just has to step inside instead of going  through complicated manoeuvres. It's a pity the suit doesn't have a laser gun and pop-up wings... yet!

Robots in space

The Robonaut programme has produced four humanoid robots that can tackle different jobs with the same speed and ability as humans. While they may look and behave like humans from the waist up, they do not have any legs to make it all the more easy to attach them onto landing modules or rovers. And there are other perks too - they don't need to breathe and better still they don't get bored, ever.

ZAPPP!

Star Wars has made it clear that laser sabres are the bee's knees! Now, scientists are convinced that these are the exact things we need just in case there's an inter-galactic war in the future - chemical lasers and particle beams. This is mostly because lasers have a very long range as they travel at the speed of light. Beware aliens!

Holidaying in space

You don't have to be an astronaut to travel in space. Got $200,000? You could win a trip to space... for a few minutes. An added attraction: commercial spaceships are designed to look much cooler. USA based Virgin Group's subdivision, Virgin Galactic, will be offering these space trips. Early birds get to make the most of this before it gets cheaper and more commonplace.

Moon base

Moon landings are so last century... setting up a moon base is the 'new' news! NASA plans to set up a moon base on the side of the moon facing away from the Earth. The base would come equipped with its own manned craft to explore the moon better. And in the near future, when space missions to Mars become as frequent as seeing solar eclipses, a moon base will be the perfect gateway base.

Mars, we're coming!

Among all the unbelievable science fiction we've read, the most unlikely one seemed to be setting up colonies on another planet. Yet, a Mars colony is very close to becoming a reality. Elon Musk, the owner of the space transport company Space X, has ambitious plans. He wants as many as 80,000 people inhabiting the little red planet by this century. As far-fetched as it sounds, it apparently is quite feasible, at a mere budget of $36 billion. The one way ticket offered to Mars is definitely an out-of-the-world experience for space enthusiasts. However, the keyword to note is 'one way'.

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The universe is full of deep mysteries and even the fraction of what we know is too fascinating for words. This month let's take a look at some of the amazing yet scary inhabitants out there.

I'm coming to visit you

Black holes form when huge stars collapse and grow, taking up other objects around them. Think of them as giant invisible blenders that can tear apart planets even thousands of miles away. There aren't black holes anywhere close to our solar system, but did you know that they can actually travel through space? And scarier still, rapidly-moving black holes cannot be detected! Scientists have assured us that space is a big place and black holes are quite rare - so sit back and relax!

A big show off!

Ever heard of gamma ray bursts? Well, they are considered as the brightest electromagnetic events to occur in the universe, so much so, that they can be seen billions of miles away! Are you also wondering how powerful they are? Apparently they emit as much energy in a few seconds that our sun can in 10 billion years! We're glad that, like black holes, they are rare and far, far away from us.

Lone travellers

We imagine planets going around a star, endlessly orbiting it as long as they live. It turns out that not all planets exist this way. Astronomers have discovered a few Jupiter-sized planets drifting alone, without a place to call home or a star as a boss. They are thought to have been ejected out of their star system due to some massive explosion event. As long as they are not on a trajectory towards Earth, it's dreamy fun to think about these lonely nomadic travellers.

What a blast!

Earth is like a magnet but its magnetic field is quite weak; an MRI machine can produce a magnetic field thousand times stronger. Since we can put our head in through the MRI machine, we can obviously put up with that magnetic field. But imagine a magnetic field that is a trillion times stronger than that of Earth. That's the

kind of power that a magnetar possesses! Come within 1000 kilometres of a magnetar and the very molecules that make you up can dissolve! Here's a fun fact to freak you out in 2004, a magnetar located halfway across the Milky Way (500 quadrillion kilometres away) quaked and its effect was felt on the Earth's upper atmosphere!

Mission Impossible

What if you stepped too close to a black hole but not quite? That's exactly what hypervelocity stars did! They bolted away from the black hole at superfast speed. Hypervelocity stars were originally binary stars, of which one was captured and gobbled up by the black hole at the centre of our galaxy while the other lucky star was sent rocketing off at a very high speed, obviously very, very glad to escape.

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A nebula is a formation in space which is constituted mostly of helium, dust, and other gases in various concentrations. The shape and size of a nebula varies, and as such there can be various types of formations having different sizes. Very often, they are huge in size, and their diameters can be a number of light years across. It is derived from Latin, and as such means a cloud. Nebulae exist in the space between the stars—also known as interstellar space. The closest known nebula to Earth is called the Helix Nebula. It is the remnant of a dying star—possibly one like the Sun. It is approximately 700 light-years away from Earth.

It is not clear how exactly a nebula is formed, but it is believed that they are formed by the collapsing of interstellar medium, which then come together because of the gravitational pull of the particles. Nebula is an important object for observation by researchers, who derive significant information about the formation process of stars and planets. A nebula is capable of exerting a gravitational pull, and the force is derived from the particles which come together to form the nebula. With more particles coming together, not only does the nebula increase in proportion, but its gravitational pull also gathers more power and intensity. A nebula is also believed to be one of the primary stages in the formation of stars. Scientists are of the opinion that a nebula can be used to create a trajectory of stellar evolution. There are various nebulae that are in existence at present, though numerous others may exist in the far-flung corners of space that remain to be observed. Some of the most popular ones are Pelican, Crab, Eagle, and Ring Nebula, with Ring being among the most observed ones on the planet.

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Launched on April 17, 1967, Surveyor 3 was the third engineering flight of the Surveyor series and the second in the series to achieve a soft landing on the moon. It was based on Surveyor 3's surface sampling tests that it was concluded that the lunar surface could hold the weight of an Apollo lunar module

The Apollo 11 mission will remain in the collective consciousness of human beings forever. This is because it was the first time we humans managed to set foot on our natural satellite, the moon.

It is important to remember that this was made possible due to a number of missions that preceded this one. Among these was the Surveyor 3 spacecraft which proved beyond doubt that an Apollo lunar module could indeed safely land on the moon's surface.

The third engineering flight of the Surveyor series, this spacecraft was the first to carry a surface-sampling instrument that could reach up to 1.5 m from the lander and dig up to 18 cm. Unlike its predecessors, Surveyor 3 began its mission from a parking orbit around Earth on April 17, 1967.

Bouncing to a stop

While it became the second in the series after Surveyor 1 to achieve a soft landing on the moon three days later on April 20, it was far from smooth. As highly reflective rocks confused the landers descent radar, the main engine did not cut off at the correct moment during the descent to the lunar surface.

This meant that Surveyor 3 bounced off the moon, not once but twice-first to a height of 10 m and then again to a height of 3 m. It was third time lucky for Surveyor 3 as it landed softly in the southeastern region of Oceanus  Procellarum.

With its worst behind it. Surveyor 3 set out to do what it was sent to do. Within an hour after landing, the spacecraft began transmitting the first of over 6,000 TV pictures of the surrounding areas.

Similar to wet sand

The most important phase of the mission included deployment of the surface sampler for digging trenches, manipulating lunar material, and making bearing tests. Based on commands from Earth, the probe was able to dig four trenches, performing four bearing tests and 13 impact tests.

The results from these experiments were the most important aspect of this mission. The scientists were able to conclude that lunar soil's consistency was similar to that of wet sand and that it would be solid enough to bear an Apollo lunar module when it landed.

The start of May saw the first lunar nightfall following the arrival of Surveyor 3. The spacecraft's solar panels stopped producing electricity and its last contact with Earth was on May 4. While Surveyor 1 could be reactivated twice after lunar nights, Surveyor 3 could not be reactivated when it was attempted 336 hours later during the next lunar dawn.

Tryst with Apollo 12

 That, however, wasn't the last of what we heard about Surveyor 3. Four months after the huge success of Apollo 11, NASA launched Apollo 12 in November 1969. The lunar module of Apollo 12 showcased pinpoint landing capacity as the precise lunar touchdown allowed the astronauts to land within walking distance of the Surveyor 3 spacecraft. During their second extra vehicular activity on November 19, astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr. and Alan L. Bean walked over to the inactive Surveyor 3 lander and recovered parts, including the camera system and the soil scoop.

Just like moon rocks, these were returned to Earth for studying, as they offered scientists a unique chance to analyse equipment that had been subjected to long-term exposure on the moon's surface. The studies of the parts showed that while Surveyor 3 had changed colour due to lunar dust adhesion and exposure to the sun, the TV camera and other hardware showed no signs of failure.

While NASA placed some of the Surveyor 3 parts into storage along with moon rocks and soil samples, the remaining parts found home elsewhere. Even though NASA treats them as lunar samples and not artefacts, they are greatly valued when gifted or loaned out, both to museums and individuals.

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The first espresso coffee was drunk in space by Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti in May 2015. The Italian Space Agency worked with Italian coffee manufacturer, Lavazza, to get the first coffee machine, called  ISSpresso, flown into the International Space Station.

In 2014, Argotec and Lavazza partnered to determine the feasibility of the project. Argotec then approached ASI, with Lavazza as a partner, and ASI agreed to sponsor the ISSpresso as an ASI payload on the ISS. NASA approval was then obtained.During the same year a feasibility study with the creation of some subsystems was conducted in order to validate the technological choices. On 14 April 2015, the flight model of ISSpresso was sent with SpaceX CRS-6 to the International Space Station and on 3 May 2015, Samantha Cristoforetti drank the first espresso in micro-gravity conditions. On 30 September 2017, Paolo Nespoli used the espresso machine on board the ISS to celebrate International Coffee Day.

The machine has conditions of use that are similar to the traditional ones, in order to facilitate the operations of the astronauts without requiring specific training. After verifying that the water container is installed properly, the astronaut inserts the coffee capsule into an opening on the top surface of the machine, then they close the small door and select the drink size. After that, they attach the drink pouch to the adapter and start the process of making coffee. The interfaces of the water container as well as of the drink pouch are the same used with the potable water dispenser installed on the space station, in order to facilitate the use of the system by the astronaut. The ISSpresso's "Coffee in Space" mission came to an end on 14 December 2017.

Credit : Wikipedia 

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An  exoplanet, or extrasolar planet, is a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system. The first confirmation of detection of one came in 1992, with discovery of two planets orbiting pulsar PSR B1257+12 (2.300 light-years away. in the constellation of Virgo). A third planet was found there in 1994. The count of confirmed exoplanets has ticked past 5,000- the culmination of 30 years of exploration, led by NASA space telescopes such as Kepler.

The 5,000+ planets found so far include small, rocky worlds like Earth and gas giants many times larger than Jupiter.

Oddities not seen in our solar system include:

• "Hot Jupiters"- Gas giants in scorchingly close orbits around their stars.

• "Super-Earths" - Possible rocky worlds bigger than our own.

• "Mini-Neptunes" - Smaller versions of our own Neptune.

• Planets orbiting two stars at once (like Tatooine in Star Wars).

• Planets orbiting the collapsed remnants of dead stars.

NASA estimates our galaxy holds hundreds of billions of strange and wonderful planets, and that someday we may find a habitable one... or one that is already inhabited.

Exoplanets form directly from larger structures in the primordial disks of gas and dust orbiting young stars. Hubble became the first telescope to directly detect an exoplanet's atmosphere and survey its makeup. As a planet passes between its star and us, a small amount of light from the star is absorbed by the gas in the planet's atmosphere, leaving chemical “fingerprints” in the star's light.

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The sudden energy expulsion from the Sun can have its impact on Earth - from causing auroras to disrupting radio communications. Extreme eruptions can even affect electricity grids on Earth. In 1972, geomagnetic storms triggered the detonation of dozens of sea mines off the Vietnam coast. In 1989, a severe solar storm caused by multiple CMES took out Quebec's (a Canadian province) entire electricity grid for over nine hours. One of the most severe storms. dubbed the Carrington Event, occurred in 1859. It was marked by an intense brightening of auroras and reports of telegraph systems malfunctioning. Today, a similar event would have far worse implications for technology.

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Monday issued a warning against an enormous geomagnetic storm caused by a strong solar flare. According to the department, the solar flare could cause massive disruption to power grids and affect spacecraft and satellites. The phenomenon is also expected to cause the northern lights to be visible in New York.

The massive solar storm set to hit earth today could potentially cause major disruption. A G2, or moderate warning was issued based on the geomagnetic storm watch readings. According to experts, the possible effects of the sudden flash due to the increased brightness from the Sun 93 million miles away could be felt from the Earth.

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An aurora is nothing but a beautiful light show in the sky. One can witness auroras near the North and the South Poles. If you witness it at the North Pole, it is aurora borealis or northern lights. At the South Pole, it is called aurora australis or southern lights. Auroras are caused by the interaction of charged particles from the Sun with atoms in the Earth's upper atmosphere. When there is a solar storm, the Sun sends out gusts of charged solar particles across space. If the Earth is in the path of the particle stream, our planet's magnetic field and atmosphere react. As the particles pass through Earth's magnetic shield, they mingle with atoms and molecules of oxygen, nitrogen and other elements, resulting in the spectacular display of light in the sky. Last month's G3 geomagnetic storm brought bright, dynamic auroras that were visible as south as Pennsylvania, lowa and Oregon.  

The Sun sends us more than heat and light; it sends lots of other energy and small particles our way. The protective magnetic field around Earth shields us from most of the energy and particles, and we don't even notice them.

But the Sun doesn't send the same amount of energy all the time. There is a constant streaming solar wind and there are also solar storms. During one kind of solar storm called a coronal mass ejection, the Sun burps out a huge bubble of electrified gas that can travel through space at high speeds.

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Geomagnetic storm is a brief disturbance in Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere caused by bursts of radiation and charged particles emitted from the Sun. Geomagnetic storms are divided into 5 classes from G1 to G5, where G1 is the weakest and G5 the strongest. A magnetic storm is a period of rapid magnetic field variation. It can last from hours to days.

The Sun sometimes emits a strong surge of solar wind called a coronal mass ejection. This gust of solar wind disturbs the outer part of the Earth's magnetic field, which undergoes a complex oscillation. This generates associated electric currents in the near-Earth space environment, which in turn generates additional magnetic field variations -- all of which constitute a "magnetic storm."

Occasionally, the Sun's magnetic field directly links with that of the Earth. This direct magnetic connection is not the normal state of affairs. When it occurs, charged particles traveling along magnetic field lines can easily enter the magnetosphere, generate currents, and cause the magnetic field to undergo time dependent variation. 

Sometimes the Sun emits a coronal mass ejection at a time when the magnetic field lines of the Earth and Sun are directly connected. When these events occur, we can experience a truly large magnetic storm.

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A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is an explosive outburst of solar wind plasma from the Sun. The blast of a CME typically carries roughly a billion tons of material outward from the Sun at speeds on the order of hundreds of kilometers per second. A CME contains particle radiation (mostly protons and electrons) and powerful magnetic fields. These blasts originate in magnetically disturbed regions of the corona, the Sun's upper atmosphere - hence the name. Solar flares are often accompanied by coronal mass ejections, which are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the corona, or Sun's outermost layer. They explode into space at very high speeds. Cannibal coronal mass ejections happen when fast-moving solar eruptions overtake earlier eruptions in the same region of space, sweeping up charged particles to form a giant, combined wavefront.

 Most CMEs form over magnetically active regions on the "surface" of the Sun in the vicinity of sunspots. CMEs are often associated with solar flares, another type of explosive "solar storm". However, CMEs and solar flares don't always go together, and scientists aren't completely sure how the two phenomena are related. CMEs are much more common during the "solar max" phase of the sunspot cycle, when sunspots and magnetic disturbances on the Sun are plentiful.

CMEs travel outward through the Solar System. Some are directed towards Earth, though many others miss our planet completely. The radiation storms which are a part of CMEs can be hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts. If a strong CME collides with Earth's magnetosphere, the disturbance can trigger a series of events that sends a burst of particle radiation into Earth's upper atmosphere. As the radiation crashes into gas molecules in Earth's atmosphere, it causes them to glow... creating the magnificent light shows of the auroras (the Northern Lights and Southern Lights).

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The solar cycle is an approximately 11-year cycle experienced by the Sun. During the solar cycle, the Sun's stormy behavior builds to a maximum, and its magnetic field reverses. Then, the Sun settles back down to a minimum before another cycle begins. About every 11 years, the Sun's magnetic field does a flip. In other words, the north pole becomes the south pole, and vice versa. Scientists use sunspots to track solar cycle progress.  Much of the Sun's tempestuous nature comes from its core. At its core is dense, electrically charged gas. Electrically charged gas is a special form of matter called a plasma. This roiling, boiling plasma generates the Sun's powerful magnetic field. Like Earth's magnetic field, the Sun's magnetic field has a north pole and a south pole. On the Sun, however, the magnetic fields are much messier and more disorganized than on Earth. The beginning of a solar cycle a solar minimum, when the Sun has the least sunspots and when the magnetic field is at its weakest. Over time, solar activities such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections increase. These can spew light, energy, and solar material into space. Solar cycles are being tracked since 1755 and we are currently in the 25th phase. The previous solar cycle ran from 2008 to 2019. We are currently escalating towards solar maximum (due to take place around July 2025), when the solar magnetic field is at its strongest.

Sunspots are areas of particularly strong magnetic forces on the Sun's surface. They appear darker than their surroundings because they are cooler. Even so, scientists have discovered that when there are lots of sunspots, the Sun is actually putting out MORE energy than when there are fewer sunspots. During solar maximum, there are the most sunspots, and during solar minimum, the fewest.

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