AST 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Coronal Mass Ejection, Corona, Solar Wind
6 Jun 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Not a featureless disk in visible light. Regions of the sun"s surface that are cooler than the rest. Have a temperature of about 4000k instead of 5800k. Move across the sun"s disk as the sun rotates. Rotation period is about 25 days at the equator but increases to about 30 days at the poles. Magnetic field can be measured because it causes spectral lines to split into three components (zeeman effect) Corona is an extended region of hot gas the outermost layer of the sun"s atmosphere. Near the surfaces, we can see prominences. Plumes of glowing gas lifted above the surface. More dramatic when viewed at ultraviolet and x ray wavelengths. Space solar observations include: soho solar and heliospheric observatory. 12 instruments for observing the sun at different wavelengths: trace transition region and coronal explorer. Regions in which sunspots are found, show up as very bright active regions at uv and x ray wavelengths.
