Sunspots and Condensation Nuclei

Mitchell Tovar Medeiros

Theophrastus a pupil of Aristotle 4th century BCthe Han Dynasty (206BC-25AD)The Aztec myth of creation written as early as 28BC1610 Italian Mathematician Galileo Galilei1843 German astronomer Heinrich Schwabe1896 Dutch physicist Pieter Zeeman1908 American astronomer George Ellery Hale1995 Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)

4,000-20,000km across (2400-12,500 mi) 400-500km deep (250-310 mi)About 4000K (>6700 F)2000K (>3000 F) cooler than photosphere 6000K (>10,000 F)Magnetic polarity alternates through 11-year cyclesSunspot numbers increase and decrease in a regular rhythm over about a decade (solar magnetic activity cycle or sunspot cycle)

Drift from mid-latitudes to the equator0-2% of the surface can be covered by sunspotsLifespan from a few hours to a few monthsTypical sunspots are 10x’s brighter than a full-moon

Umbra-dark central region of sunspotPenumbra-less dark pattern surrounding umbraAll sunspots begin their lives as tiny pores no larger than a single granuleLarge sunspots may have several umbrae within a single penumbraSunspot magnetic fields= 0.3 tesla of 3,000 gauss (Earth=.00002T/0.3G)Granules-hot packets of gas rising at 1,000m/s, at surface energy is released by radiation then cool, darkens, and sinks downward

R# =k ( 10g + s )K= a factor based on the estimated efficiency of observer and telescope

g is the number of groups of sunspots, and s is the individual number of sunspots in all groups

Wolf Sunspot Number

CYCLES:11.1 year Schwabe cycle22.2 year Hale cycle87 year Gleissberg cycle observed links between number of sunspots with terrestrial auroras (1958)210 year DeVries-Suess cycle Sunspots seem to disappear every 200 years as solar activity diminishesDansgaard-Oeschger cycle recurrence time being a multiple of 1,470 yearsCurrently in solar cycle 24 beginning on January 4, 2008Started numbering in 1760

Sunspots at higher latitudes move at slower ratesConcentrated in bands about 15-20 deg in latitude

Solar Wind- Plasma of ions and electrons blowing from the solar corona at speeds of 250 mi/s Particles with energies within 100Mev range are common.5,000,000 electrons and 5,000,000 protons per cubic meter of Solar Wind near the Earth (confirmed by satellite measurement in the early-1960’s)The Sun’s magnetic field extends outward as far as 100 astronomical units, shielding the inner solar system from cosmic rays

Are Clouds a result of climate?, or is our climate a result of clouds?

Ions created in the troposphere by cosmic rays could provide a mechanism for cloud formation

Condensation nuclei -a tiny bit of solid matter (aerosol) in the atmosphere on which water vapor condenses to form a tiny water droplet Charged water droplets combine with aerosol particles 10-100x’s more efficiently than uncharged droplets

Ionization-the process in which a neutral atom or molecule is given a net electrical charge

Complete record of solar activity is contained within Carbon-14and Beryllium-10 Isotope deposits found in tree rings and ice coresOxygen-18 Isotope ratios from calcite shell deposits can show history of Ocean TemperaturesInverse relationship between temperature and Cosmic Ray Flux, when CRF rises temperatures fall, and when CRF drops off, temperature climbs

PROXIES

Sunspots can temporarily reduce the Sun’s total radiation of the Earth by as much as 0.01% for minutes to days.

60-70% of Earth is covered by clouds Clouds reflect 60% of the Sun’s radiation Water Vapor is responsible for 95% of Greenhouse effect (CO2 only 3.62%) The 13,000 Gt of water in the atmosphere (~0.33 % by weight) are responsible for about 70% of all atmospheric absorption of radiation

Sunspot Minima Wolf Minimum (1280-1340)

Sporer Minimum (1450-1540) Maunder Minimum (1645-1715)

Daulton Minimum (1790-1820)18 periods of sunspot minima since the beginning of the Holocene

Work CitedHeaven and Earth global warming the missing scienceIan PlimerThe Resilient Earth Science, Global Warming and the Future of HumanityDoug L Hoffman and Allen SimmonsThe Sun Our Star Robert W. NoyesThe Sun Steele Hill and Michael CarlowiczThe Cambridge Encyclopedia of the SunKenneth R. Langsohowww.nascom.nasa.govwww.nasa.govwww.ncar.ucar.eduwww.theresilientearth.comwww.naturalclimatechange.ushttp://myweb.wwu.edu/dbunny (Don Easterbrook)The Cloud Mystery Henrick Svensmark and Friis-Christensen