PPT Slide
Visual observations of the Sun in white light (without special filters), often reveal sunspots - dark areas ranging in size from 1arcsecond to greater than 1 arcminute (recall that the Sun’s diamter is about 0.5o, or 30 arcminutes, or 1800 arcseconds). Sunspots may be individually isolated, or they may occur in large, complex groups. The dark, centralized portion of a sunspot is called the umbra, which is sometimes surrounded by a gray region of less contrast, called the penumbra. An individual spot may persist for as little as tens of minutes, or for as long as months, with the largest spots lasting the longest. Individual small spots may grow to become quite large, before decreasing in size and ultimately disappearing.
The purpose of this sunspot “lab” is for you to monitor the appearance of sunspots over an approximately ten day period. To do so you will use observations of the Sun that are provided daily (weather permitting!) by the Big Bear Solar Observatory, located in the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California