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    Sophia Rose
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    The document discusses the Sun and solar activity, including: 1) The Sun has a magnetic field that reaches far into its atmosphere and corona. Solar activity like sunspots and solar flares are sites of large explosions on the Sun. 2) The Sun has an 11-year solar cycle where its properties change periodically. Recent data shows our understanding of this cycle is still limited since predictions have differed from observations. 3) Telescopes allow us to study the Sun and universe by collecting light and magnifying distant objects. Different types of telescopes like refractors and reflectors use different technologies but achieve the same goal.

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    Lecture11_10

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    The document discusses the Sun and solar activity, including: 1) The Sun has a magnetic field that reaches far into its atmosphere and corona. Solar activity like sunspots and solar flares are sites of large explosions on the Sun. 2) The Sun has an 11-year solar cycle where its properties change periodically. Recent data shows our understanding of this cycle is still limited since predictions have differed from observations. 3) Telescopes allow us to study the Sun and universe by collecting light and magnifying distant objects. Different types of telescopes like refractors and reflectors use different technologies but achieve the same goal.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    2 views30 pages

    Lecture11 10

    Uploaded by

    Sophia Rose
    The document discusses the Sun and solar activity, including: 1) The Sun has a magnetic field that reaches far into its atmosphere and corona. Solar activity like sunspots and solar flares are sites of large explosions on the Sun. 2) The Sun has an 11-year solar cycle where its properties change periodically. Recent data shows our understanding of this cycle is still limited since predictions have differed from observations. 3) Telescopes allow us to study the Sun and universe by collecting light and magnifying distant objects. Different types of telescopes like refractors and reflectors use different technologies but achieve the same goal.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 30

    The active Sun

    The magnetic Sun

    White light Magnetic field


    Solar magnetic fields reach far
    out into space
    Solar magnetic fields reach out into the
    outermost layer of the Sun’s
    atmosphere…the corona

    Temperatures in the corona are 1 - 2 million


    degrees Kelvin
    Your chance to see the solar corona

    Total eclipse of the Sun…August 21, 2017


    The 11 Year Solar Cycle
    The Sun has a “heartbeat”; its
    properties change on a period of
    11 years
    Latest data on this sunspot cycle
    An indication that our knowledge of the
    solar cycle is far from perfect
    Predictions in 2007

    Observations and predictions as of today


    Sunspots are the sites of big explosions
    (solar flares and coronal mass ejections)
    The Sunspot Cycle has been
    going on for a long time

    Observations show cycle persisting, but “turning off”


    from 1650 to 1730 (Maunder Minimum)
    The Solar Wind

    • A wind past the Earth at 400


    km/sec
    • The Sun is “melting away”
    • Density 19 orders of
    magnitude less than
    atmosphere
    • A medium for solar events
    • May have “sandblasted” the
    early atmosphere of Mars
    The Lesson for Other Stars
    • Do they also have sunspots, sunspot
    cycles, etc?
    • How does all this (magnetic fields, solar
    wind, rotation) relate to the age of a
    star?
    Telescopes

    The instruments we use to study the universe


    More about telescopes
    • What you will
    be looking
    through later in
    the semester
    • Progress in
    astronomy
    would have
    been
    impossible
    without them
    Telescopes do two things:

    • Collect “Big Piles” of light


    • Magnify object (it looks a lot closer than
    it is)
    Types of Telescopes

    • Refractors
    • Reflectors
    • Radio telescopes
    • None of the
    above
    Reflectors and Refractors

    Newtonian
    Cassegrain
    Refractors: more details from the book

    Demo
    Reflectors: more details from the book

    Demo
    Formation of an image
    Magnification of a telescope

    The longer the focal length, the


    higher the magnification
    Modern astronomy: instead of an eyepiece,
    a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)
    Keck Telescopes (Reflectors): 10 meter
    diameter
    Resolution: How small detail
    can you see with a telescope?
    Resolution: smallest angle
    measurable

    Angle=wavelength/diameter(telescope)
    (radians)
    Radio Telescopes
    Wavelength large (1cm – 1 meter
    typically) so D has to be HUGE
    Radio Interferometers:
    The ultimate in angular resolution
    Final topic: the disappearing night sky:
    The US by night; where is it dark?

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