PH1600: Introductory Astronomy Lecture 12: The Sun’s Atmosphere What is this?

PH1600: Introductory Astronomy Lecture 12: The Sun’s Atmosphere Study: Chapter 10 in The Cosmos book Next Lecture: The Sun’s Interior School: Michigan Technological University Professor: Robert Nemiroff Book: The Cosmos by Pasachoff & Filippenko Online Course WebCT pages: This class can be taken online ONLY, class attendance is not required!

You are responsible for…  Reading the book One chapter per “quiz period” Anything from that chapter can appear on quizzes or tests, even if I never mention them during my lecture(s) This quiz period covers Chapter 8  APODs posted during the semester APOD review every week during lecture  Completing the Quizzes Chapter 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, & 8 quizzes already due Chapter 10 quiz due next See WebCT at for detailshttp://courses.mtu.edu/

Kitt Peak National Observatory Credit & Copyright: AURA/ NOAO APOD: 1999 January 18

The Sun  Visible during the day  Closest star  Relatively normal star  Orbits in the Milky Way Galaxy  Mostly hydrogen gas 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  Diameter: 1.4 million km 104 Earth diameters  Mass: 2.0 x kg 330,000 Earth masses  Spin rate: 26 days at equator  Temperature: 5800 K at photophere  Average density: 1.4 g/cm times that of water

An Erupting Solar Prominence from SOHO Credit: SOHO-EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA APOD: 2006 August 7

Sun’s Atmosphere  Photosphere Sunspots, granules, faculas 5800 Kelvins  Chromosphere Spicules, filaments, prominences, CMEs 10,000 Kelvins near the top  Corona 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

Dark Sun Sizzling Credit: TRACE Project, Stanford-Lockheed Institute for Space Research, NASA APOD: 2006 July 10

Sunspot Cycle – Solar cycle  Magnetic cycle takes 22 years 11 years for each polarity  Solar maximum and Solar minimum Occur every 11 years Solar minimum in 2006  Many more sunspots near Solar Max Also more CME, flares, etc.

A Large Active Region Crosses the Sun Credit & Copyright: Jack Newton APOD: 2004 July 26

A Sunspot Up Close Credit : Vacuum Tower Telescope, NSO, NOAO APOD: 2005 November 6

Sunspot Metamorphosis: From Bottom to Top Credit: Dutch Open Telescope, Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht APOD: 2005 February 16

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

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

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

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

The Sun's Heliosphere & Heliopause Credit & Copyright: P. C. Frisch (U. Chicago) et al., U. Indiana APOD: 2002 June 24

Brown Sun Bubbling Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler APOD: 2000 January 10