Assignment #2   Solar Activity

ASTR 122, Robert L Zimmerman

Assigned Jan 23, Monday------ Due Monday Jan 28, Monday

                             

       You are asked to return various images and answer a few questions.  You MUST place all images in a word processor. Under each image you must include a brief description with the URL.  You do not have to use the suggested URLs I give you. 

                                                 Questions

1. Explain how the solar magnetic field and its rotation produce the sunspot cycle.

2. Explain what the Maunder minimum is. What affect did it have on the Earth?

                                                     Images

3. More than a century ago it was discovered that sunspots come and go in roughly an 11-year cycle. The heights of successive maximum are unequal, and the interval between successive peaks or troughs are not constant. The 11-year period is an average. Return an image of the plot of the number of Sunspots

http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/images/zurich.gif

and answer the following questions:

    i. What phase was the solar cycle in (Max, Min) during the years of 1890 and 2006?

   ii. According to http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/SC24/PressRelease.html

when will the next solar Max start?

4. Dark features on the Sun have been reported for at least 2000 years. Several sightings per century are contained in ancient Chinese records. Although not the first sightings recorded in Europe, Galileo's telescopic observations in 1610 provided the first details about sunspots.  They typically last from about a week to two months before dissipating.  A typical large spot is some 10,000 km across and exceptional large ones are 50,000 km in diameter, or about four times the diameter of the Earth. Return one image of a sunspot. Include a brief description and the URL. On the picture identity the umbra and penumbra. What is the temperature in the umbra and on the photosphere? Possible URLs are: 

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051106.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap021114.html

5. One of the most spectacular features on the Sun is a solar prominence.  Prominences appear as huge arching columns of gas above the edge of the Sun. However, when prominences are photographed on the surface of the Sun, they appear as long, dark, thread like objects and are called filaments. Return a picture of a solar prominence. Include its URL and a brief description. URLs are:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970127.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980830.html

 http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000403.html

 

 

6.  A flare is defined as a sudden, rapid, and intense variation in brightness.   The solar flare explosion is a result of the magnetic fields that twist, snap and recombine, blasting particles to almost the speed of light and heating the solar atmosphere to tens of millions of degrees. This action causes the solar atmosphere to sizzle with high-energy X-rays and gamma rays and accelerate proton and electron through the solar system.  The amount of energy released is the equivalent of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time.  Return an image of a flare. Include its URL and a brief description.

Possible URLs are:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000608.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980601.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990430.html

http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/flares.shtml

 

 7. Coronal mass ejections are massive clouds of solar gases ejected from the solar atmosphere. When they are directed towards Earth, they often produce magnetic storms in the Earth’s magnetosphere.  Return a picture of a coronal mass ejection. Include its URL and a brief description.

   Possible URLs are:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000309.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020516.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000524.html