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The Sun…a star in our solar system (continued)

The Sun…a star in our solar system (continued). But first…see a solar twin tonight. Beta Canum Venaticorum…look almost up and a little east at 9PM. Beta Canum Venaticorum (Beta CVn). Spectral type: G0V Temperature: 5930 K Luminosity (relative to Sun): 1.12 Distance: 27.3 light years

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The Sun…a star in our solar system (continued)

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  1. The Sun…a star in our solar system (continued)

  2. But first…see a solar twin tonight Beta Canum Venaticorum…look almost up and a little east at 9PM

  3. Beta Canum Venaticorum (Beta CVn) • Spectral type: G0V • Temperature: 5930 K • Luminosity (relative to Sun): 1.12 • Distance: 27.3 light years • Judged best candidate by astronomer Margaret Turnbull to try and communicate with them

  4. Next topic: solar activity The Sun doesn’t always look like it does today

  5. Sunspots illustrate the rotation of the Sun Sunspots over several days The Sun rotates with a period of 27 days (a good indicator of its age)

  6. Closeup of a sunspot Sunspots are regions of strong magnetics fields (0.2 -0.4 Tesla)

  7. Sunspots and their strong magnetic fields are related to more mysterious aspects of the Sun Above the photosphere are more rarefied and hotter parts of the solar atmosphere

  8. The Chromosphere-region above the photosphere, and substantially hotter

  9. The Solar Corona What is it? How did it get that way?

  10. The X-Ray Sun

  11. The Temperature Profile in the Solar Atmosphere

  12. The process or processes responsible for heating the solar corona almost certainly involve the solar magnetic field We just don’t know how

  13. The hot, rarefield, magnetically-dominated parts of the solar atmosphere show continual activity and energy release erupting solar prominence...April 21, 2010

  14. Solar activity includes two violent types of events • Solar flares • Coronal mass ejections

  15. Coronal mass ejections A loop of matter “blasts off” from the Sun

  16. Solar flare…the movie The solar flare of April 21, 2002, shown on Astronomy Picture of Day for November 6, 2007

  17. Why are flares and coronal mass ejections important? • They are dangerous! They can generate levels of radiation in interplanetary space that are lethal • They are part of, and play a role in, the development of the solar wind

  18. Sunspots and solar activity: they come and go Sept. 21, 2000 Jan. 26, 2008

  19. The 11 year solar cycle: where are we now?

  20. The 11 year solar cycle goes back to the time of Galileo Maunder Minimum

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