TRACKING A PERFECT STORM
Sunspotters
You begin your Storm Watch in May, 2003. You use your own instrument to project the image of the Sun on paper on May 27. (You know you should never look at the Sun directly.) You observe at least two sunspots on the Sun. The easiest and quickest way to compare your observations with ground-based telescopes and with satellite observations of the Sun is to use the Sun-Earth Viewer.
The 8th image in this selection is from the Big Bear Solar Observatory in Big Bear Lake, California. On May 27th, Big Bear Solar Observatory shows the image to the left.
The NASA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite also provides an image of the Sun using the Michelson Doppler Interferometer (MDI) on May 27.
Both images show a very large sunspot region and a smaller one. There are also some small spots that are difficult to see. The large region is about 6 Earth diameters in length. Is there a potential one of these sunspots might produce a flare or CME? Which one?
The largest region seems to be made of many smaller spots. It seems more complex than the smaller one. So, you predict that the larger sunspot might produce a solar storm.
It is awkward to keep referring to the sunspot as the larger one or the smaller one, so scientists give each sunspot area a number. From the MDI image for the 27 th of May, you find out that the large sunspot region is #365.
- NASA Official: Dr. James Thieman
- Project Manager: Don Robinson-Boonstra
- Website Manager: Bryan Stephenson