NASA Announces Media Teleconference to Explain Missing Sunspots

WASHINGTON — NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 3, to discuss the first computer model that explains the recent period of decreased solar activity during the sun’s 11-year cycle. The recent solar minimum, a period characterized by a lower frequency of sunspots and solar storms, ended in 2008 and was the deepest observed in almost 100 years.

The teleconference panelists are:

— Richard Fisher, director, Heliophysics Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington

— Dibyendu Nandi, assistant professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, India

— Andres Munoz-Jaramillo, visiting research fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.

— Delores Knipp, visiting scientist, University of Colorado at Boulder

To participate in the teleconference, reporters must contact Trent Perrotto at 202-358-0321 or trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov by 10 a.m. EST on March 3 for dial-in instructions. Requests must include media affiliation and telephone number.

Supporting information for the briefing will be posted at: http://www.nasa.gov/sunearth

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on the Web at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio