Sun spots and solar flares

Engage and Explore

• Describe the properties of the sun

• Describe the major features of the Sun's surface, such as flares and sunspots

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Learners can:

• solar flare - A violent explosion on the Sun’s surface.

• sun spot - Cool, dark area on the Sun’s surface that have lower temperatures than surrounding areas; sunspots usually occur in pairs and come and go on an 11-year cycle.

• Cooler, darker areas on the surface of the Sun with intense magnetic activity

​​SunSpots

• Found where loops of the Sun's magnetic field break through the surface and disrupt heat transfer within the sun

• Usually occur in pairs

11 YEAR CYCLE

• Violent explosions that release huge amounts of energy

• This happens if a loop of the Sun's magnetic field snaps and breaks.

• Strong solar flares can turn into coronal mass ejections (CME)

• Releases streams of highly energetic particles that make up Solar Wind

• Solar Wind can be dangerous due to the radiation that it releases.

• Can knock out power grids, disturb radio, satellite, and cell phone towers.

• Can also cause auroras over the poles.

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​Solar Flares

◦Plasma that flows along a loop of the Sun's magnetic field from sunspot to sunspot

◦A glowing arch thousands of kilometers into the Sun's atmosphere.

◦Can last a day to several months

◦Visible during total solar eclipse

Solar Prominence

• These spots are cooler and darker than the rest of the Sun's surface and they are marked by intense magnetic activity.

• Solar prominences are the plasma loops that connect two sunspots.

• Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are eruptions of highly energetic particles that can erupt from the Sun's surface and cause problems with power grids and communications on Earth.

• The Sun is an ordinary star. It supports nearly all life on Earth.

• The Sun is at the center of the solar system.

• The Sun makes up almost all of the mass of the solar system.
  Sunspots occur in pairs because each is one side of a loop of the Sun's magnetic field that reaches the Sun's surface.