2. I could increase REM percent by extending total sleep time past 9 hours or waking for 5 minutes at approximately 4.5 hours after sleep onset. Short wakings of 5-10 minutes, particularly one additional waking approximately 6.5 hours after sleep onset, dramatically increased REM percent. It turns out that waking is not necessarily a bad thing, at least when intentional.
The amount of magnetic flux that rises up to the Sun's surface varies with time in a cycle called the solar cycle. This cycle lasts 11 years on average. This cycle is sometimes referred to as the sunspot cycle. Near the minimum of the solar cycle, it is rare to see sunspots on the Sun, and the spots that do appear are very small and short-lived.
It takes 88 Earth days for Mercury to complete an orbit of the Sun, about 1/4 of an Earth year. The day on Mercury is unusual. The planet's spin is extremely slow, taking about 58.7 Earth days to make one rotation. This is exactly 1.5 turns for each orbit. The result of these two periods is that the solar day is greatly extended, and lasts about 176 Earth days (sunrise to sunrise).