Sunspot at Sunset in Texas

Solstice Goat

Frater Aegagrus
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
Location
Seattle, WA
Sunspot science

And while sunsets may be the most watched celestial event, this one even offered something extra. A sunspot so large it was visible to the naked eye is captured in the serene sunset view, near the center of a solar disk
How Sunspots Affect Our Climate


  • The first most noticeable effect of sunspots on our climate were the northern and southern lights, otherwise known as the aurora.
    With sunspots come an increase in ultraviolet rays that emit from the outer ring of the sunspots toward Earth. This increase in UV rays affects chemistry of the outer atmosphere and the energy balance of Earth. The idea that sunspots affect Earth's climate is still largely debated, but it is believed that the increase of sunspots on the surface of the sun can reduce the amount of energy and light distributed to Earth. This decrease in energy can result in colder weather and even "mini ice ages" on parts of Earth that are farther from the equator.
    However, sunspots affect life on Earth through the Borealis and the Aurora Australis. The magnetic field that is projected from solar flares is much more powerful than the magnetic field that protects Earth, which creates a magnetic storm seen by the colors in the sky during these two events. These magnetic fields can also disrupt power grids and radio signals on Earth and the satellites that orbit Earth.




Dennis Avery. a scientist with the Hudson Institute, notes that “Humans have known for 400 years—since Galileo—that sunspots correlate with climate changes on earth. A startling lack of sunspots predicted both the coldest periods of the Little Ice Age, the Sporer Minimum that begin in 1460, and the Maunder Minimum which began in 1645. More recently the Dalton Minimum predicted the severe cold of the early 1800s.”
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jfh

perpetual student
Joined
Dec 3, 2007
Location
Texas, USA
CME is Coronal Mass Ejection.

Sun Researchers May Crack 70 Year Old Mystery

Why Is The Sun's Corona Hotter Than The Sun Itself?
Added by Georgina Pijttersen on July 13, 2013.
Saved under Georgina Pijttersen, Science


Tsunami are not limited to earth, this phenomenon has now also been sighted on the Sun, of all places. The tsunami consists of heightened magnetic field and hot, ionized gases which race across the Sun at about 400km per second. These tsunami also help cause the release matter into space, and therefore might be causing the corona surrounding the sun to be hotter than the sun surface. Therefore the researchers involved in the analysis of the data from the satellites which captured this phenomenon might have cracked a 70 year old mystery. In addition studying the effects of the sun tsunami, the matter they release into the sun’s corona and the sun orbit itself, might be an invaluable source for understanding how this all will affect Earth, and crack it’s mysterious effects on our planet. The satellites can’t just take photographs in a regular way because this would not capture everything that is going on with the Sun. The satellites have instruments which notice, and can analyse ultraviolet light which the sun emits. Humans can’t register these colors but the satellites can. This ultraviolet light gives us information about the chemical makeup and extreme physical conditions of the Sun.
David Long of University College London and teammates spotted the waves coming from the tsunami and going into the Sun’s corona. Therefore making them the Sun’s researchers who may crack the 70 year old mystery surrounding the Sun’s corona, and why it’s hotter than the rest of the sun. The waves coming off the tsunami and going into the corona are called EIT. David said to the BBC: ”These EIT waves are quite tricky – they’re very random and they’re relatively rare,” he added, “We need to be in the right place at the right time; this has been a long time coming. This tells us a lot about the nature of the Sun and what goes on in the atmosphere,” Dr Long went on to explain. “These waves are quite important because they’re associated with CMEs that fire plasma out into the heliosphere, toward the Earth. Generally we see them when there’s a CME coming straight at us – but when it’s coming straight at us then it’s quite difficult to measure how fast it’s coming at us or how strong it is,” Long stated, ”So by looking at these waves, we should be able to infer how powerful these CMEs are going to be.”
The research hasn’t been completed yet. The researchers haven’t been able to totally crack the 70 year old mystery into why the Sun’s corona is hotter than the core temperature. It is said that the Sun’s core is some 15,000,000C, but the Sun’s surface is below 6,000C. Meanwhile the corona is known to be at a temperature in excess of 1,000,000C. Which is very odd indeed. It does seem that they are on the right track and that we will soon be able to report that indeed the Sun tsunami are responsible for changing the temperature of the Sun’s corona.
 


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