So we don’t have an official Glasgow Skeptics event on this date … but our friends over in Cafe Scientifique have got something to tickle your fancy instead.

This month’s topic: The Sleeping Giant: The Current State of Solar Activity

The Sun has a natural 11 year activity cycle, and we are currently experiencing a lull in solar activity known as solar minimum. How does this quiet period affect modern life here on earth? What have we learned about solar activity during the current solar cycle (including the recent total solar eclipse that was visible across the continental United States)? And what can we expect from the next solar cycle due to peak around 2022 when the next generation of solar telescopes will be online?

About the Speaker:
Dr. Ryan Milligan has been researching solar flares and solar activity for over 10 years since obtaining his PhD from Queen’s University Belfast. He spent much of this time NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre working on NASA missions such as SOHO, RHESSI, and SDO, and he currently holds the position of Ernest Rutherford Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. He is also an avid solar eclipse chaser having experienced 8 eclipses to date. Prior to becoming a solar physicist, Dr. Milligan was a truck driver in Northern Ireland, and earlier this year he completed a trip to the Netherlands to collect components for the new Irish LOFAR radio telescope. You can watch his journey unfold in his upcoming BBC documentary, Space Truckers.

For more information about Café Scientifique:

• Visit their website: http://www.gla.ac.uk/events/cafescientifique/
  
• The talk is free – although they do ask for donations.
• Accessibility information for the venue can be found here: https://www.disabledgo.com/access-guide/glasgow-city-council/waterstones-3