Individual sun spots can come and go in a few days or last for weeks".
Not true. The average sunspot cycle is about 10.7 years in length, often rounded up to 11 years. From the minimum to the maximum is an average of about 4.8 years, and from the max down to the next minimum it is about 5.9 years. They typically rise quicker than they fall.
A progression from minimum to maximum to minimum is a single sunspot cycle. Two sunspot cycles might run 19-23 years in length total, not one.
In a sunspot cycle the magnetic poles of the sun flip, thus while this flipping occurs on average every 11 years, it will in fact take 22 years for the Sun's poles to be back to the same position as when you started measuring.
Sunspots are born and fade away normally within a few days. The Sun rotates once every 25 days or so, so a sunspot that is visible now will be around the limb of the Sun and out of sight within a couple of weeks.
At present, the Sun is at the Solar Minimum, and hardly any sunspots are visible. In fact, in 2008 so far there have been more than 200 days with no sunspots at all. The sunspot cycle is approximately 11 years, so over the course of the next six years we ought to see an increasing number of sunspots until the Solar Max, which ought to occur in 2014 or so.
The sunspot cycle is the pattern from the minimum to the next minimum, which is about 11 years. Normally, after reaching a minimum, the number of sunspots begins to rapidly increase, but this period of quiet on the Sun is a little longer than usual. We reached the Solar Minimum about 18 months ago, with no sign at the moment that the solar activity is increasing. For example, since the beginning of this year, 88% of the days have shown ZERO sunspots.
The web site spaceweather.com can show you what the sunspot number is each day.
The sunspot cycle averages about 11 years, but sometimes it varies a couple of years more or less. For example, the last solar minimum was 12 years ago, and there are no signs that the number of sunspots is poised for an increase any time soon.
The sunspot cycle averages about 11 years in length from peak to peak. Oven the course of 11 years, the number of sunspots will peak, then slowly fall off until there are very few or none, and then gradually increase to a maximum again.
Some cycles are longer or shorter, and some peaks and troughs are more extreme. The Sun is currently just beginning to emerge - perhaps! - from an extended period of dormancy. Since the last peak in about 2002, the number of sunspots declined to essentially zero in 2006 and remained at or near zero until late in 2009. From the beginning of 2007 until November 2009, the Sun was entirely spot-less over 70% of the time.
Since the beginning of December 2009, there have generally been at least a couple of spots on the face of the Sun, indicating that the long-delayed Solar Cycle 24 may actually be picking up.
You can see current images of the Sun at the websites spaceweather.com or solarcycle24.com.
Sunspots usually last for an irregular 11 year cycle. They can be shorter or longer, but average is 11 years.
The sunspot cycle is normally about 11 years long.
Each cycle for the sun is about 10-11 years.
Sun spot cycle has a period of 11 years.
It varies, individual suspots can last anything from a day or so, up to 100 days or so.
We do not yet have a good understanding of the way that sunspot activity changes. We've only been keeping track of sunspots since the early 1600s. In general, sunspot activity increases and decreases in a cycle that is approximately 11 years long. But the cycle isn't particularly stable; for example, the previous cycle, Solar Cycle 23, lasted for closer to 13 years and the current Solar Cycle 24 has been fairly low in activity. This may have long-term significance in our weather here on Earth; twice in the last 4 centuries, we've seen extended periods of very low sunspot activity, and both periods have been associated with unusually cold weather. Some scientists fear that the current sunspot deficit may be a prelude to a new period of cooler-than-normal weather.
The last sunspot cycle may have ended in December 2008 (Cycle 23). However, due to lack of sunspot activity, scientist are unsure whether cycle 23 has ended yet, or whether cycle 24 is just starting. A rough guess would place the timing around December 2009 but as with everything, nothing is certain, certainly not the sunspot cycle. (The 11 year cycle is a mean value and cannot be taken as precise). Given the approximate 11-year cycle, and assuming that cycle 24 started in January 2009, then the PEAK of sunspot activity should occur about 5 1/2 years from then, around summer 2014. See related links for more information
Cretaceous
12000 years
Sunspot activity increases and decreases with a frequency of about eleven years from peak to peak, so there are about five and a half years from a period of highest sunspot activity to a period of lowest sunspot activity. The last peak was in 2001, so the next peak is expected in 2012.
Longest
it doesnt.
could last up to 8 days if your like me, but that's been the longest for me!
i might be right or not but, Hubba Bubba will last the longest. if i am not right do it your self
July6
The longest lived tornado on record was the Tri-State tornado of March 18, 1925. It last 3 hours and 29 minutes.
The last Solar Maximum was in 2002. The Sun is currently at the minimum of the sunspot cycle, perhaps just at the beginning of the new Cycle 24. So far, the Sunspot Number for February is Zero - no sunspots at all this month so far (as of February 8, 2009). You can check the sunspot number, and see fascinating things about things in space each day at www.spaceweather.com. It is currently focusing on photos of Comet Lulin, the Green Comet. _________________________________ The problem with WikiAnswers is that if you ask a question that is time-related, such as "When was the last sunspot maximum?", the answer becomes less and less useful as time goes by. The answer above was from February, 2009; today is April 10, 2014, five years later. The "last sunspot maximum" answer now would be "last month", since we're at or near the Solar Max. It's been a long time coming; the last solar cycle dawdled for a year longer than it should have, and this cycle looks like it's going to be well below the average of previous solar cycles. But the spaceweather.com website, linked below, is still the best resource for questions like this.
ballin is the food that will make them last the longest ballin is the food that will make them last the longest
The cells that last the longest are nerve cells, they last a lifetime
I think Bubblelicious last the longest.
the one that lasts the longest!