Sunspot Worksheet

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Clemson University *

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104

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Physics

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Apr 3, 2024

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pdf

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Name:_Andrew Birchler_________________ Sunspot Cycle Worksheet These lab activities have evolved over years of use in Clemson University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy general astronomy laboratory. Contributors include Tom Collins, Mark Leising, Neil Miller, Peter Milne, Grant Williams, Donna Mullenax, Jessica Crist, Keith Davis, Amber Porter, Lea Marcotulli, and David Connick. Please direct all questions, complaints, and corrections to David Connick (dconnic@clemson.edu) who is responsible for all errors and omissions. Sunspot Observations 1) From your own observations within Starry Night what is the rotation period of the sun? It takes about 28 days for the sun to make a full rotation. 2) According to the info panel for the sun in Starry Night what is the rotation period of the sun at the equator? 25.38 days 3) Why do the sunspots appear dark? Because the are cooler than the surround area Return to the instructions before the next set of questions. Answer the following questions after viewing Image 1. 4) How long do the longest lived sunspots live? A few weeks 5) What is the dark area at the center of the sunspot called? umbra 6) What is the lighter area around the edge of the sunspot called? penumbra 7) Where have we heard these terms before? (think back to eclipses) Umbra and penumbra are the names of the two different shadows cast during an eclipse. 8) Are sunspots shadows on the surface of the sun? Explain No they are cooler regions on the photosphere which is why they are darker Answer the following questions after viewing Image 2 9) How many individual sunspots are in the image? 12 10) How many groups of sunspots are in the image? 5 11) Using the Wolf numbering method how many sunspots are in the image? 62 Answer the following questions after viewing Image 3 12) How long did the spiral sun spot keep its shape? 2 days

13) How large is the spiral sun spot compared to the Earth? It was about 6 times larger than earth Answer the following questions after viewing Image 4 14) How do the locations of the sunspots compare to the locations of highest Ultraviolet light on the surface of the sun? The locations of the sunspots are the same as the locations of higher ultra violet light. 15) What is the difference in time between the two images? Slightly less than 9 years 16) Does this difference in time correspond to the 5.5 year cycle between solar minimum and solar maximum? Explain It does match because we are seeing solar maximum in the images on the left and solar minimum in the images on the right which both occur once per 11 year cycle Return to the instruction document before attempting the next section of the worksheet. Plotting Sunspot Data Copy the Sunspot number vs year plot here on the worksheet. After the plot has been copied fill in the table below. First fill in the dates of each minimum and maximum and then calculate the interval between those dates. To calculate the interval find the difference between successive events. For example for the first interval between minima subtract the year of the first minima from the year of the second minima.

Event # Year of minimum Interval between minima Year of maximum Interval between maxima 1 1755 No previous 1761 No previous 2 1766 11 1769 8 3 1775 9 1778 9 4 1784 9 1788 10 5 1799 15 1804 16 6 1811 12 1816 12 7 1823 12 1830 14 8 1833 10 1837 7 9 1843 10 1848 11 10 1856 13 1860 12 17) What is the average time between minima? 10.1 years 18) What is the average time between maxima? 9.9 years 19) How well do your averages match with the 11.1 year cycle that is reported for this cycle? Both averages are roughly a year off of the expected average of 11.1 years Return to the instructions to prepare for the next section Copy the Sunspot latitude vs year plot here in the worksheet.

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