When Will The Sun Reach Its Solar Maximum This Year?

[NASAFanboy]

I have a bunch of weather balloons loaded with radiation experiments and biological items that I intend to expose to radiation.

I'm also intending to test the effectivity of water against radiation, along with measuring radiation in the upper atmosphere.

My weather balloon will fly to an height of 62,000 feet, then pop and send the experiments back to Earth on a parachute.

I'm only intending to measure radiation/biological exposure at that height. But to get the best results, I need to know when the sun is at its solar max.

Can anyone please inform me?

[TheShadow1138]

After a quick search on NASA's website to confirm what I believed, solar maximum was to have occurred last year. We should be on the downward slant of the current solar max, if the peak of activity did in fact occur last year. I'd say that probably any time this year would be decent for your experiment, unless I have misunderstood your question. I hope I have provided at least some help.

Edited March 11, 2014 by TheShadow1138

[NASAFanboy]

After a quick search on NASA's website to confirm what I believed, solar maximum was to have occurred last year. If it did in fact occur last year, you'd have to wait until about 2024 for the next one. I'd say, however, that the sun would still be sufficiently active this year, especially compared to solar minimum.

Ah, crap.

I was planning to launch an rockoon last year to an height of around 150,000 ft, but these plans got postponed due to cost issues (I also work with liquid fuel rocket engines) and I had to settle with smaller weather balloons.

Anyways, when will it be most active this year?

[TheShadow1138]

Ah, crap.

I was planning to launch an rockoon last year to an height of around 150,000 ft, but these plans got postponed due to cost issues (I also work with liquid fuel rocket engines) and I had to settle with smaller weather balloons.

Anyways, when will it be most active this year?

I'm certainly not an expert on solar dynamics, but as far as I am aware there is not a predictable yearly cycle in solar activity. The sunspot, or solar cycle, operates on a roughly 11-year cycle. If the most recent solar maximum occurred last year as predicted, this year would still be close enough to the actual peak in solar activity (I believe) for your experiments. There is certainly more activity now than during a solar minimum.

Edit: Just found the NASA/Marshall Solar Physics page (http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml) where they give the prediction for the solar maximum and it states that solar max occurred in August 2013 with a peak sunspot count of 68.9. According to SpaceWeather.com, the current number of sunspots today is 122, though I'm not certain of the comparability of the two numbers at the moment.

Edited March 11, 2014 by TheShadow1138