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Sunspot K-12 Experiments & Class Activities
Sunspot Background See also Solar Cycle A sunspot is a region on the Sun's surface (photosphere) that is marked by a lower temperature than its surroundings and intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection, forming areas of low surface temperature. Although they are blindingly bright at temperatures of roughly 4000-4500 K, the contrast with the surrounding material at some 5700 K leaves them clearly visible as dark spots. If they were isolated from the surrounding photosphere they would be brighter than an electric arc. As of 2006, we are near the minimum (predicted for 2007) in the sunspot cycle [1]. Similar phenomena observed on stars other than the Sun are commonly called starspots. 
Active region 9393 as seen by the MDI
instrument on SOHO hosted the largest sunspot group observed so far
during the current solar cycle. On 30 March 2001,
the sunspot area within the group spanned an area more than 13 times
the entire surface of the Earth. It was the source of numerous flares
and coronal mass ejections, including one of the largest flares recorded in 25 years on 2 April 2001. Caused by intense magnetic fields
emerging from the interior, a sunspot appears to be dark only when
contrasted against the rest of the solar surface, because it is
slightly cooler than the unmarked regions.
Sunspot variation
Sunspot numbers have been recorded since 1700 AD and estimated back to 11,000 BP. The recent trend is upward from 1900 to the 1960s, then somewhat downward [2]. The Sun was last similarly active over 8,000 years ago. The number of sunspots has been found to correlate with the intensity of solar radiation over the period - since 1979 - when satellite measurements of radiation are available. Since sunspots are dark it is natural to assume that more sunspots means less solar radiation (e.g. [3]). However, the surrounding areas are brighter and the overall effect is that more sunspots means a brighter sun. The variation is small (of the order of 0.1%) and was only established once satellite measurements of solar variation became available in the 1980s. During the Maunder Minimum there were hardly any sunspots at all and the earth may have cooled by up to 1°C. HistoryApparent references to sunspots were made by Chinese astronomers in 28 BC (Hanshu, 27), who probably could see the largest spot groups when the sun's glare was filtered by wind-borne dust from the various central Asian deserts. Averroes is usually considered to be the first astronomer to have discovered sunspots. A large sunspot was also seen in the time of Charlemagne, though the observation was misinterpreted until Galileo gave the correct explanation in 1612. They were first observed telescopically in late 1610 by Frisian astronomers Johannes and David Fabricius, who published a description in June 1611. At the latter time Galileo had been showing sunspots to astronomers in Rome, and Christoph Scheiner had probably been observing the spots for two or three months. The ensuing priority dispute between Galileo and Scheiner, neither of whom knew of the Fabricius' work, was thus as pointless as it was bitter. Sunspots had some importance in the debate over the nature of the solar system. They showed that the Sun rotated, and their comings and goings showed that the Sun changed, contrary to the teaching of Aristotle. The details of their apparent motion could not be readily explained except in the heliocentric system of Copernicus. The cyclic variation of the number of sunspots was first observed by Heinrich Schwabe between 1826 and 1843 and led Rudolf Wolf to make systematic observations starting in 1848. The Wolf number is an expression of individual spots and spot groupings, which has demonstrated success in its correlation to a number of solar observables. Wolf also studied the historical record in an attempt to establish a database on cyclic variations of the past. He established a cycle database to only 1700, although the technology and techniques for careful solar observations were first available in 1610. Gustav Spörer later suggested a 70-year period before 1716 in which sunspots were rarely observed as the reason for Wolf's inability to extend the cycles into the seventeenth century. The economist William Stanley Jevons suggested that there is a relationship between sunspots and crises in business cycles. He reasoned that sunspots affect earth's weather, which, in turn, influences crop yields and, therefore, the economy. Edward Maunder would later suggest a period over which the Sun had changed modality from a period in which sunspots all but disappeared from the solar surface, followed by the appearance of sunspot cycles starting in 1700. Careful studies revealed the problem not to be a lack of observational data but included references to negative observations. Adding to this understanding of the absence of solar activity cycles were observations of aurorae, which were also absent at the same time. Even the lack of a solar corona during solar eclipses was noted prior to 1715. Sunspot research was dormant for much of the 17th and early 18th centuries because of the Maunder Minimum, during which no sunspots were visible for some years; but after the resumption of sunspot activity, Heinrich Schwabe in 1843 reported a periodic change in the number of sunspots.
An extremely powerful flare was emitted toward Earth on 1 September 1859. It interrupted telegraph service and caused visible Aurora Borealis as far south as Havana, Hawaii, and Rome with similar activity in the southern hemisphere. The most powerful flare observed by satellite instrumentation began on 4 November 2003 at 19:29 UTC, and saturated instruments for 11 minutes. Region 486 has been estimated to have produced an X-ray flux of X28. Holographic and visual observations indicate significant activity continued on the far side of the Sun. Physics
Although the details of sunspot generation are still somewhat a matter of research, it is quite clear that sunspots are the visible counterparts of magnetic flux tubes in the convective zone of the sun that get "wound up" by differential rotation. If the stress on the flux tubes reaches a certain limit, they curl up quite like a rubber band and puncture the sun's surface. At the puncture points convection is inhibited, the energy flux from the sun's interior decreases, and with it the surface temperature. The Wilson effect tells us that sunspots are actually depressions on the sun's surface. This model is supported by observations using the Zeeman effect that show that prototypical sunspots come in pairs with opposite magnetic polarity. From cycle to cycle, the polarities of leading and trailing (with respect to the solar rotation) sunspots change from north/south to south/north and back. Sunspots usually appear in groups. The sunspot itself can be divided into two parts: Magnetic field lines would ordinarily repel each other, causing sunspots to disperse rapidly, but sunspot lifetime is about two weeks. Recent observations from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) using sound waves travelling through the Sun's photosphere to develop a detailed image of the internal structure below sunspots show that there is a powerful downdraft underneath each sunspot, forming a rotating vortex that concentrates magnetic field lines. Sunspots are self-perpetuating storms, similar in some ways to terrestrial hurricanes. 
Sunspot activity cycles about every eleven years. The point of highest sunspot activity during this cycle is known as Solar Maximum (Solar Max for short), and the point of lowest activity is Solar Minimum (Solar Min). At the start of a cycle, sunspots tend to appear in the higher latitudes and then move towards the equator as the cycle approaches maximum: this is called Spörer's law. Today it is known that there are various periods in the Wolf number sunspot index, the most prominent of which is at about 11 years in the mean. This period is also observed in most other expressions of solar activity and is deeply linked to a variation in the solar magnetic field that changes polarity with this period, too. A modern understanding of sunspots starts with George Ellery Hale, in which magnetic fields and sunspots are linked. Hale suggested that the sunspot cycle period is 22 years, covering two polar reversals of the solar magnetic dipole field. Horace W. Babcock later proposed a qualitative model for the dynamics of the solar outer layers. The Babcock Model explains the behavior described by Spörer's law, as well as other effects, as being due to magnetic fields which are twisted by the Sun's rotation. ApplicationSunspots are relatively easily observed; a small telescope with a projection facility suffices. In some circumstances (low sunsets) sunspots can be observed with the naked eye. Small plates of a dark glass normally used for welding are also available, which can be used to view the sun by blocking out most of its light. These are very inexpensive, and enable you to clearly see much of the solar activity going on during any clear day. (Note of Caution: never look directly at the Sun using the naked eye; it can cause temporary, partial blindness or permanent eye damage. Never look at the Sun using binoculars or an unfiltered telescope, either--doing so can cause permanent blindness). Due to their link to other kinds of solar activity, they can be used to predict the space weather and with it the state of the ionosphere. Thus, sunspots can help predict conditions of radio short-wave propagation or satellite communications. 
External links
Sunspot data
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia Encyclopedia article "Sunspot" |
