In this morning's plenary session Daniel Mueller from ESA told us that the solar wind was the weakest it has been since the start of the space age. Compared to the previous solar minimum, solar wind pressure is down 20 percent and the magnetic field is 35 percent weaker. Possible consequences of this "quiet" Sun are that the boundary of the heliosphere will move in, meaning that the Voyager spacecraft will reach interstellar space sooner than originally expected, but also that we may be subjected to a greater influx of cosmic rays. More on the Sun later! Solar wind weakest since start of space age
In this morning's plenary session Daniel Mueller from ESA told us that the solar wind was the weakest it has been since the start of the space age. Compared to the previous solar minimum, solar wind pressure is down 20 percent and the magnetic field is 35 percent weaker. Possible consequences of this "quiet" Sun are that the boundary of the heliosphere will move in, meaning that the Voyager spacecraft will reach interstellar space sooner than originally expected, but also that we may be subjected to a greater influx of cosmic rays. More on the Sun later! 
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