Welcome to SOLAR WEEK, 2020



With the Covid-19 virus all around us we are being advised to practice Social Distancing. Here are some solar activities to learn about our very own Star & the Sun-Earth connection.
Over the next five days I will be posting daily activities that can be carried out at home and enjoyed dy individuals and/or small family groups.
Mar 23-27, 2020
sun in black spaceclose up of sunspots on sunsolar flareeclipsewoman in front of large telescope
Monday - The Sun As a Star
Tuesday - Solar Close-Ups
Wednesday- The Active Sun
Thursday - The Sky Above: Earth's Upper Atmosphere
Friday - Solar Careers, Internships and Opportunities

Solar Week, a week of online lessons, games and hands-on activities about the Sun for grades 5-9 or ages 9-14


Monday, March 23rd, 2020 - DAY 1




ACTIVITY 1- Did you know that our SUN is actually a STAR?

All the stars we see at night are actually SUNS!!! And the SUN we see in the daytime is actually a STAR that we can observe up close & personal.
The Sun—the heart of our solar system—is a yellow dwarf star, a hot ball of glowing gases. Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything from the biggest planets to the smallest particles of debris in its orbit. Electric currents in the Sun generate a magnetic field that is carried out through the solar system by the solar wind—a stream of electrically charged gas blowing outward from the Sun in all directions.

The connection and interactions between the Sun and Earth drive the seasons, ocean currents, weather, climate, radiation belts and aurorae. Though it is special to us, there are billions of stars like our Sun scattered across the Milky Way galaxy.
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Solar Limb & ProminenceActive RegionSolar Limb
Calcium HHi ResCa-K






ACTIVITY II- Are conditions right for viewing the sun?  CHECK OUT THESE LINKS TO FIND OUT:

As a Solar Enthusiast I have a daily routine I follow so I can learn about solaractivity and weather conditions when I awaken in the morning. It goes something like this:

The first thing I do is look at the blinds on my window. If they are bright at 7:30am, it could be clear out. If they are dim, it is cloudy or foggy.
Next, I check the weather reports. I really like two sites in particular:
METEOBLUE
ASTROSPHERIC
I look for attributes like
Clouds, No clouds is best with light cirrus sometimes acceptable, so long as it they are quite light.
Jet Stream: If the jet stream is overhead, seeing will be terrible.
Temperature variation: is the temp rising or dropping dramatically, or changing slowly over time or holding steady. We prefer steady temps. Changing temps create bad seeing when the atmosphere is in flux.

Then I check the Sun itself by visiting the following websites:
Spaceweather dot com
NOAA GONG
BASS2000
Space Weather
SOLARACTIVITY

These sites, when checked back to back, provide a comprehensive view of what's going on with our sun and wether our local weather conditions are condusive to viewing and/or imaging the sun.
I have aa series of links on my laptop for home use and I have a folder on my smartphone with these apps so I can check on the sun when I'm away from the laptop.

When conditions are right I go out to my backyard observatory and take images of the sun, as you can illustrated in the images above...




ACTIVITY III - Daily Solar Activities, Games, etc.

Check out the solar week daily activities located on the SOLAR WEEK Website:
http://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/Solar-Week/Monday





ACTIVITY IV - Video of the Day

Check out my PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE OF THE PARKER SOLAR PROBE PRESENTATION on the NCSTARGAZER Website:
 (One hour long)