Sun spots and solar flares

Characteristics of Our Solar System

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.

Vocabulary

Surface Features

• 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

Open Ended

Why do you think sunspots occur in pairs?

Multiple Choice

What are spots on the sun that are cooler than the rest of the sun?

• Corona
• Sun Spots

11 YEAR CYCLE

Multiple Choice

Sunspots appear and disappear in a cycle that lasts approximately _____ years.

• 11

• 22

• 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

Multiple Choice

A strong solar flare can lead to ____

• Coronal mass ejections

• Space eruptions

◦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

Multiple Choice

Plasma loops that connect two sunspots are called _____ .

• Solar Prminences

• Solar Wind

Multiple Choice

Why is it important to monitor the Sun's activity?

• Both A and B

• Neither A or B

• 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.

Conclusion