How do sunspots affect the Earth and the space around it?
If sunspots are active, more solar flares will result creating an increase in geomagnetic storm activity for Earth. Therefore during sunspot maximums, the Earth will see an increase in the Northern and Southern Lights and a possible disruption in radio transmissions and power grids.
How is solar activity directly relevant to us here on Earth quizlet?
How is the sunspot cycle directly relevant to us here on Earth? Coronal mass ejections and other activity associated with the sunspot cycle can disrupt radio communications and knock out sensitive electronic equipment.
When we say that the Sun is a ball of plasma we mean that it is what?
nuclear fusion. When we say that the sun is a ball of plasma, we mean that. The sun consists of gas in which many or most of the atoms are ionized.
Why is it important to keep track of the sunspot cycle?
Why is the sunspot cycle carefully monitored from Earth? As an indicator of solar activity. The Sun is most active, with greatest outbursts of energy and radiation, during the years when sunspots are most numerous.
How do sunspots affect humans?
Solar storms emit radiations, exposure to which is harmful to humans and can cause organ damage, radiation sickness and cancer. Most experts state that there's no significant risk to humans on the ground from solar flare.
What do sunspots tell us about the sun’s rotation rate?
What do sunspots tell us about the Sun's rotation rate? Watching and timing sunspots as they travel across the Sun's face allows us to measure the rotation rate and determine it does not rotate as a solid body. It experiences differential rotation with different rates near the poles and equator.
What processes are involved in the sunspot cycle quizlet?
Which of the following processes is involved in the sunspot cycle? The winding of magnetic field lines due to the Sun's rotation. helium, gamma rays, and neutrinos. Based on its surface temperature of 6,000 K, most photons that leave the Sun's surface lie in which region of the electromagnetic spectrum?
How is the Sun’s activity connected to its magnetic field?
The Short Answer: The solar cycle is the cycle that the Sun's magnetic field goes through approximately every 11 years. Our Sun is a huge ball of electrically-charged hot gas. This charged gas moves, generating a powerful magnetic field. The Sun's magnetic field goes through a cycle, called the solar cycle.
What do we mean when we say that the Sun is in gravitational equilibrium?
What do we mean when we say that the Sun is in gravitational equilibrium? There is a balance within the Sun between the outward push of pressure and the inward pull of gravity.
Which of the following is the best answer to the question why does the Sun shine?
Which of the following is the best answer to the question, "Why does the Sun shine?" As the Sun was forming, gravitational contraction increased the Sun's temperature until the core become hot enough for nuclear fusion, which ever since has generated the heat that makes the Sun shine.
Why is it important to track the sun?
The sun is a normal star. It is much closer to us than any other star, and by studying the sun, we can therefore learn more about other stars. The better we understand other stars, the more we know about the Milky Way. From there we know more about other galaxies and in the end we learn more about the universe.
What is the sunspot cycle quizlet?
solar cycle. Also called the sunspot cycle. An 11-year cycle during which the number of sunspots rises to a maximum or falls to a minimum. The periodic change in the number of sunspots; the cycle is taken as the interval between successive minima and is about 11.1 years.
How does the solar cycle affect humans?
The results show that radiation peaks in solar cycles and particularly in chaotic solar cycles (CSCs) are associated with a higher incidence of mental disorders, suggesting the sensitivity of ectodermal embryonic tissues to UVR.
Do sunspots affect photosynthesis?
Its light provides energy for photosynthesis in plants and algae, the basis for the food chain, which ultimately feeds almost all life on earth. Sunspots also have an indirect but significant impact on life here on earth.
What evidence do we have that sunspots are magnetic?
We know that sunspots are magnetic because we can directly observe the effect that the field has on the spectral lines we observe through a phenomenon called the Zeeman effect.
What is involved in the sunspot cycle?
The 11-year sunspot cycle is actually half of a longer, 22-year cycle of solar activity. Each time the sunspot count rises and falls, the magnetic field of the Sun associated with sunspots reverses polarity; the orientation of magnetic fields in the Sun's northern and southern hemispheres switch.
What do sunspots tell us about the Sun’s rotation rate?
What do sunspots tell us about the Sun's rotation rate? Watching and timing sunspots as they travel across the Sun's face allows us to measure the rotation rate and determine it does not rotate as a solid body. It experiences differential rotation with different rates near the poles and equator.
How does solar cycle affect Earth?
The Sun's irradiance has its greatest effect on Earth's upper atmosphere, while the lower atmosphere insulates Earth from the increased heat. If the Sun were driving Earth's warming, one would expect to see that upper atmosphere getting increasingly hot.
What two forces are balanced in gravitational equilibrium describe how gravitational equilibrium makes the Sun hot and dense in its core?
What two forces are balanced in gravitational equilibrium? What does it mean for the Sun to be in energy balance? Gravity and thermal pressure (the heat from fusion in the core causes pressure.)
Which of the following processes is involved in the sunspot cycle group of answer choices?
Which of the following processes is involved in the sunspot cycle? The winding of magnetic field lines due to the Sun's rotation.
What evidence do we have to support our current ideas about the solar interior?
We see many sunspots on the surface of the Sun. Humans have not sent a spacecraft into the interior of the Sun to confirm any models of the interior. What evidence then do we have to support our current ideas about the solar interior? Solar neutrinos!
Why is the sun important to life on Earth?
The sun has extremely important influences on our planet: It drives weather, ocean currents, seasons, and climate, and makes plant life possible through photosynthesis. Without the sun's heat and light, life on Earth would not exist.
Why is the sun important to life on Earth kids?
It radiates light and heat, or solar energy, which makes it possible for life to exist on Earth. Plants need sunlight to grow. Animals, including humans, need plants for food and the oxygen they produce. Without heat from the sun, Earth would freeze.
What is a sunspot give details )? How do they form?
Sunspots are caused by disturbances in the Sun's magnetic field welling up to the photosphere, the Sun's visible "surface". The powerful magnetic fields in the vicinity of sunspots produce active regions on the Sun, which in turn frequently spawn disturbances such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
What are sunspots and how often do they occur?
They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. Sunspots appear within active regions, usually in pairs of opposite magnetic polarity. Their number varies according to the approximately 11-year solar cycle.
How does energy from the Sun affect Earth’s climate?
The Earth's climate system depends entirely on the Sun for its energy. Solar radiation warms the atmosphere and is fundamental to atmospheric composition, while the distribution of solar heating across the planet produces global wind patterns and contributes to the formation of clouds, storms, and rainfall.
What is the best reason astronomers have come up with to explain why sunspots?
What is the best reason astronomers have come up with to explain why sunspots are cooler and look darker? Sunspots are places where the strong magnetic fields in the Sun resist the upward motion of bubbling hot gases from underneath.
How does knowing about the solar cycle help us?
These predictions can help them forecast these solar conditions, called space weather. Forecasting of the solar cycle can help scientists protect our radio communications on Earth, and help keep NASA satellites and astronauts safe, too. Solar activity can affect satellite electronics and limit their lifetime.
What two forces are balanced in gravitational equilibrium What does it mean for the Sun to be in energy balance quizlet?
What does it mean for the Sun to be in energy balance? Gravity and thermal pressure (the heat from fusion in the core causes pressure.) The Sun is not expanding or contracting because the energy from gravity pulling inward is equal to the gas pressure pushing outward. The energy is in equilibrium.
What is gravitational equilibrium How does the Sun and other stars achieve it?
According to our current model of solar-energy gener- ation by nuclear fusion, the Sun maintains its size through a balance between two competing forces: gravity pulling inward and pressure pushing outward. This balance is called gravitational equilibrium (or hydrostatic equilibrium).