Transcript Solar Weather

Solar Weather
It’s Sooooo-lar Amazing!
Weather…in space!
 Space weather is the concept of changing
environmental conditions in near-Earth
space.
Using Eclipses to Study Solar Wind
 Solar wind is a flow of particles out of the
sun’s corona (outer layer).
 The particles may be spread out, but they are
SUPER fast. Some that escape from the
Sun’s poles travel as fast as 800 kilometers
per second!
Is Solar Wind Really Wind?
 Not one that you could feel. The flow of
particles is much less dense than the wind on
earth, so you cant feel it even if you stood in
it’s path.
What Protects Us From Solar Wind?
 Earth’s magnetic field shield’s the planet as it
moved throughout the solar system.
Sunspots
 In ancient China around 28 B.C.E,
astronomers recorded their observations of
what looked like small changing, dark
patches on the surface of the Sun.
 Galileo was one of the first to view sun spots
through a telescope.
 But, what are sunspots? And what do they tell
us about the Sun and “weather” in space?
Today’s Inquiries:
Inquiry 8.2 on page 108 in your textbook.
 Write your Sunspot Data on page 8 in your Lab notebooks.
Inquiry 8.3 on page 109-112 in your textbook.
 Write your Graphs and Answers on page 9 in your Lab notebooks.
Group A: 1750-1778
Group B: 1779-1807
Group C: 1808-1836
Group D: 1837-1865
Group E: 1866-1894
Group F: 1895-1923
Group G: 1924-1952
Group H: 1953-1981
Group I: 1982-1999
When Finished with both Inquiry Activities, read page 70 in your textbooks
then see Ms. Houston afterwards for further instruction.
Our Sun’s Energy
It Just Keeps Going, and Going, and
Going….
Our Sun’s Energy
 Our Sun is only one among billions of others
in the universe, but why is it the one that
makes our life on earth possible?
Solar Energy: Where Does it Come
From?
It starts with the Sun’s massive size:
 The sun is approximately 300,000 times
greater than Earth’s.
Under A Lot of Pressure
 The more mass any object has, the greater
the pressure at it’s center due to the force of
gravity.
 The Sun’s mass is composed of hydrogen
gas atoms and when gas is compressed it
becomes hot.
Solar Energy
 Solar energy is energy from the sun.
 This energy is the source of most of the earth
on Earth’s Land, in it’s oceans, and in its
atmosphere.
 The way it makes it to earth is through a
process known as radiation.
Radiation
 Some solar radiation is visible light, but not all
solar radiation can be detected by the human
eye.
Our Atmosphere: The Shield
 Earth’s atmosphere protects our planet by
keeping us from receiving too much solar
energy.
 Too much energy (like ultraviolet radiation)
would be harmful to life on earth.
 What would happen to us if we were closer or
further away from the sun?