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PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 12: The Sun’s Atmosphere
PH1600: Introductory Astronomy
Lecture 12: The Sun’s Atmosphere
Next Lecture: The Sun’s Interior
School: Michigan Technological University
Professor: Robert Nemiroff
Online Course WebCT pages:
http://courses.mtu.edu/
This class can be taken online ONLY, class
attendance is not required!
You are responsible for…
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Lecture material
Listed wikipedia entries
 But not higher math
APODs posted during the semester
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APOD review every week during lecture
Completing the Quizzes
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Homework quizzes 1 - 6, Midterm already due
Homework 7 released Wednesday
See WebCT at http://courses.mtu.edu/
Wikipedia entries:
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Sun
Sunspot
Solar cycle
facula
Kitt Peak National Observatory
Credit & Copyright: AURA/ NOAO
APOD: 1999 January 18
The Sun
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Visible during the day
Closest star
Relatively normal star
Orbits in the Milky Way Galaxy
Mostly hydrogen gas
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Then Helium, then “heavy elements”
5 billion years old
The Solar Spectrum
Credit & Copyright: Nigel Sharp (NSF), FTS, NSO, KPNO, AURA, NSF
APOD: 2006 April 23
The Sun
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Diameter: 1.4 million km
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Mass: 2.0 x 1030 kg
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330,000 Earth masses
Spin rate: 26 days at equator
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104 Earth diameters
36 days at the poles
Temperature: 5800 K at
photosphere
Average density: 1.4 g/cm3
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1.4 times that of water
An Erupting Solar Prominence from SOHO
Credit: SOHO-EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2006 August 7
Sun’s Atmosphere
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Photosphere
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Chromosphere
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Sunspots, granules, faculas
5800 Kelvins
Spicules, filaments, prominences, CMEs
10,000 Kelvins near the top
Corona
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Coronal holes
Very low density
>1 million Kelvins (why?)
Solar Flares Cause Sun Quakes
Credit: A. G. Kosovichev (Stanford) et al., MDI, SOHO, ESA, NASA
APOD: 1998 June 1
A Large Tsunami Shock Wave on the Sun
Credit: NSO/AURA/NSF and USAF Research Laboratory
APOD: 2006 December 13
Sunspot Cycle – Solar cycle
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Magnetic cycle takes 22 years
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Solar maximum and Solar minimum
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11 years for each polarity
Occur every 11 years
Solar minimum in 2006
Many more sunspots near Solar
Max
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Also more CME, flares, etc.
Dark Sun Sizzling
Credit: TRACE Project, Stanford-Lockheed Institute for Space Research, NASA
APOD: 2006 July 10
A Large Active Region Crosses the Sun
Credit & Copyright: Jack Newton
APOD: 2004 July 26
Sunspot Metamorphosis: From Bottom to Top
Credit: Dutch Open Telescope, Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht
APOD: 2005 February 16
An Active Sunspot Viewed Sideways
Credit & Copyright: Hinode, JAXA, NASA
APOD: 2007 April 2
A Sunspot Up Close
Credit : Vacuum Tower Telescope, NSO, NOAO
APOD: 2005 November 6
Light Bridges on the Sun
Credit: G. Scharmer, L. Rouppe van der Voort (KVA) et al., SVST
APOD: 2000 May 22
The Sun's Surface in 3D
Credit: G. Scharmer (ISP, RSAS) et al., Lockheed-Martin Solar & Astrophysics Lab.
APOD: 2003 June 24
Orange Sun Oozing
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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070522.html
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http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061204.html
The Magnetic Carpet Of The Sun
Credit: SOHO Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 1999 October 24
A Backward Sunspot and the New Solar Cycle
Credit: MDI, SOHO, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2006 August 30
Active Region 1002 on an Unusually Quiet Sun
Credit: SOHO Consortium, EIT, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2008 September 24
24
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sunspot_Numbers.png
A Complete Solar Cycle from SOHO
Credit: SOHO - EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2007 December 3
26
Sunspot Loops in Ultraviolet
Credit: TRACE Project, NASA
APOD: 2004 October 10
A Solar Filament Lifts Off
Credit: TRACE, NASA
APOD: 2004 July 25
Spicules: Jets on the Sun
Credit: SST, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, LMSAL
APOD: 2004 August 2
Solar Magnetic Bananas
Credit: A. Gary et al. (NASA/MSFC), NASA
APOD: 1998 June 29
Filaments Across the Sun
Credit & Copyright: Greg Piepol (sungazer.net)
APOD: 2004 December 6
A Prominent Solar Prominence from SOHO
Credit: SOHO - EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2004 March 30
A Twisted Solar Eruptive Prominence
Credit: SOHO Consortium, EIT, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2003 February 23
Pleiades, Planets, And Hot Plasma
Credit: SOHO - LASCO Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2000 May 24
Coronal Holes on the Sun
Credit: SOHO - EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2003 March 18
Sun Storm: A Coronal Mass Ejection
Credit: SOHO Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2007 February 6
Solar Eclipse and SOHO
Credit: 2006 Team - Williams College Eclipse Expedition, NSF, National Geographic,
SOHO Consortium, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2006 March 31
A Powerful Solar Flare
Credit: SOHO Consortium, LASCO, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2003 October 29
An Antarctic Total Solar Eclipse
Credit & Copyright: Fred Bruenjes (moonglow.net)
APOD: 2003 December 8
The Crown of the Sun
Credit & Copyright: Koen van Gorp
APOD: 2006 April 7
A Wind From The Sun
Credit: SOHO Consortium, UVCS, EIT, ESA, NASA
APOD: 2000 March 18
Voyager at 90 AU
Illustration Credit: Walt Feimer, NASA
APOD: 2003 November 20
The Sun's Heliosphere & Heliopause
Credit & Copyright: P. C. Frisch (U. Chicago) et al., U. Indiana
APOD: 2002 June 24
APOD: 2000 January 10
Brown Sun Bubbling
Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler