Solar Quest-Understanding Flares, Prominences and Sunspots

[Nicholas Kang]

In Malaysia syllabus(I hate it), we are just going to learn about the Sun during Form 3, 15 years old. Different books provide different answers. The textbook is not reliable(no explanation provided/clear line drawn between solar flare and prominences), reference books give different answers and all 4 encyclopedias of mine yet give a very complex answer but still making me confused. So, I am going to ask experts in this forum for help. (This is not homework, so I am not going to start this topic in the Homework section)

 

Questions

 

1. Where does solar flares, prominences and sunspots occur?-Corona? chromosphere? Photosphere?

2. When does solar wind occur?

3. What is the difference(s) between solar wind and solar storm?

4. Sunspots cycle occur in periods. The most common is 11 years. My teacher told me there are longer ones, like 7000 years and 11000 years. He even told me there are scientists theorize when we approach the 11000-year cycle, catastrophic disasters will happen on Earth. Is he right?

5. He also told me when the sunspot is one quarter of the size of the Sun, earth temperature will drop dramatically and cause serious climate change, is he right?

 

More question may be posted/added.

 

Thanks for willing to answer my questions.

 

Serving the scientific community,

Nicholas Kang

[Ophiolite]

No one seems to have bothered to answer your questions. This is a quick "off the top of my head" reply, so don't take it as 100% reliable.

Questions

 

1. Where does solar flares, prominences and sunspots occur?-Corona? chromosphere? Photosphere?

2. When does solar wind occur?

3. What is the difference(s) between solar wind and solar storm?

4. Sunspots cycle occur in periods. The most common is 11 years. My teacher told me there are longer ones, like 7000 years and 11000 years. He even told me there are scientists theorize when we approach the 11000-year cycle, catastrophic disasters will happen on Earth. Is he right?

5. He also told me when the sunspot is one quarter of the size of the Sun, earth temperature will drop dramatically and cause serious climate change, is he right?

1. Both flares and prominences originate in the photosphere and penetrate through the chromosphere.into the corona.

2. Continuously.

3. The solar wind is continuous stream of (generally charged) particles emitted by the sun and moving outwards through space. A solar storm is mass ejection of material during a flare event and usually so called when it has the possibility of striking the Earth, other planets, or spacecraft.

4. Accurate records are of insufficient duration to define all the cycles that likely effect sunspots. The - roughly - eleven year cycle is the most obvious.

Given that no catastrophic disasters appear to have impacted the Earth every 11,000 years, then this does not sound like the conclusions of scientists, but of alarmists or authors trying to get publicity for a book.

5. I do not believe sunspots could grow to such size. The physics of their formation would prevent it. If there were ever so many sunspots that the total covered 1/4 of the sun there would assuredly be an impact on climate. You could work out very roughly the effect by considering the temperature of the suns surface, the lower temperature of sunspots and the resultant reduction in radiative output.

[Enthalpy]

7,000 and 11,000 years? Aren't these other known periods for Earth, like its precession time?

This does have a known effect on climate, both computed and observed, which doesn't relate with sunspot cycles, which have not been observed over a long period.

[Nicholas Kang]

7,000 and 11,000 years? Aren't these other known periods for Earth, like its precession time?

This does have a known effect on climate, both computed and observed, which doesn't relate with sunspot cycles, which have not been observed over a long period.

 

Yes, I think so.

 

No one seems to have bothered to answer your questions. This is a quick "off the top of my head" reply, so don't take it as 100% reliable.

 

Thanks.

 

 

1. Both flares and prominences originate in the photosphere and penetrate through the chromosphere.into the corona.

 

Great answer. But obviously in the exam the answer should be only one. Is it photosphere, why photosphere but not corona and chromosphere?

 

 

2. Continuously.

 

Sorry(I couldn`t say thank you though you remind me many times not to say sorry because "sorry" doesn`t fit in this context), I mean when does solar wind continuously occurs? Do you mean it just happens since the born of our Sun until today?

 

 

3. The solar wind is continuous stream of (generally charged) particles emitted by the sun and moving outwards through space. A solar storm is mass ejection of material during a flare event and usually so called when it has the possibility of striking the Earth, other planets, or spacecraft.

 

Thanks for explanation but can you compare them instead of giving definitions about solar storm and solar wind? I mean what are the similarities and differences? Do you mean Coronal Mass Ejection(CME)? Solar storm can also be streams of particles emitted by the sun and moving outwards through space, so what are the differences?

 

 

4. Accurate records are of insufficient duration to define all the cycles that likely effect sunspots. The - roughly - eleven year cycle is the most obvious.

Given that no catastrophic disasters appear to have impacted the Earth every 11,000 years, then this does not sound like the conclusions of scientists, but of alarmists or authors trying to get publicity for a book.

 

 

Are you disagreeing with my teacher? Never mind, I won`t tell him. If possible, please give detailed explanation.

 

5. I do not believe sunspots could grow to such size. The physics of their formation would prevent it. If there were ever so many sunspots that the total covered 1/4 of the sun there would assuredly be an impact on climate. You could work out very roughly the effect by considering the temperature of the suns surface, the lower temperature of sunspots and the resultant reduction in radiative output.

 

 

Their physics of formation would prevent it. Well, can you explain the physics to me? I am eager to know. Thanks.

 

Your mentee,

 

Nicholas

[Phi for All]

Great answer. But obviously in the exam the answer should be only one. Is it photosphere, why photosphere but not corona and chromosphere?

I think the problem is with the wording, which may have changed in translation. You used the word "occur", which means "where they happen". Ophiolite used the word "originate", meaning "where they start".

[Nicholas Kang]

Good eyesight. Well, maybe Ophiolite can tell me both the answers, including the place where they start and they happen. In fact, I can argue that Where they start to happen is possible too. And Phi for All can help to answer too.

[Phi for All]

Well, maybe Ophiolite can tell me both the answers, including the place where they start and they happen.

 

His answer was designed to provide both, at least for flares and prominences. Since sunspots also occur in the photosphere but don't move outward, I would guess your teacher is looking for the origin of these three phenomena.

I mean when does solar wind continuously occurs? Do you mean it just happens since the born of our Sun until today?

 

"Continuously" means "without pause", or "uninterrupted". The solar wind is always happening.

[Nicholas Kang]

So, all of them happen in the photosphere, extending out to the chromosphere and into the corona except sunspots.

Conclusion:

Origin of sunspots:photosphere

prominences:photosphere

solar flares:photosphere

 

Happens at-

sunspots: photosphere

prominences:?

solar flare:?

 

For solar wind, is it always happening since the Sun emerges 4.5-5 billions years ago?

[Ophiolite]

I had this written five hours ago, but failed to post it. In the meantime I think some points have been addressed by other members so there may be some repetition.

 

 

Great answer. But obviously in the exam the answer should be only one. Is it photosphere, why photosphere but not corona and chromosphere?

We observe them in the corona and it is really only there that they take on the form of a flare, so I think corona would be the correct answer.

 

Sorry(I couldn`t say thank you though you remind me many times not to say sorry because "sorry" doesn`t fit in this context), I mean when does solar wind continuously occurs? Do you mean it just happens since the born of our Sun until today?

Yes, the solar wind has been in existence since the sun formed. Indeed there is a period in the early history of the sun, known as its T-Tauri phase, after a star in that phase in the constellation of Taurus, where the solar wind is so intense it clears away the last of the gas in the accretion disc from which the planets formed.

 

As far as I am aware the wind is then much as it is now, though I would expect it to be slighter weaker as the sun was cooler then.

 

Thanks for explanation but can you compare them instead of giving definitions about solar storm and solar wind? I mean what are the similarities and differences? Do you mean Coronal Mass Ejection(CME)? Solar storm can also be streams of particles emitted by the sun and moving outwards through space, so what are the differences?

I feel that I've given a reasonable basic description of the differences. Have you checked google for answers? I think that would be more productive for you to extract the details from various sources than for me to do the compilation for you.

 

 

Are you disagreeing with my teacher? Never mind, I won`t tell him. If possible, please give detailed explanation.

His claim is not one I am familiar with. Such cycles are of interest to me, so I would have thought it likely I would have heard of this before if it was a generally accepted idea. Therefore, I am expressing very strong doubts. I would want to see the research he bases this statement on. I should want to read a selection of papers that cite that research and see how they use it and what credibility they give it. I should want to consider what assumptions were made in their research and how rigorous their experimental method was. I would want to see how thoroughly they had considered alternative explanations for their observations, and so on.

 

 

Their physics of formation would prevent it. Well, can you explain the physics to me? I am eager to know. Thanks.

 

Sunspots arise as a consequence of complex magnetic fields. The models we have of those fields are sound - that is they duplicate the behaviour that we see. As far as know the size of the magnetic "disturbances" that can produce the sunspots could not become as large as you are speaking of.

 

 

I had this written five hours ago, but failed to post it. In the meantime I think some points have been addressed by other members so there may be some repetition.

 

 

Great answer. But obviously in the exam the answer should be only one. Is it photosphere, why photosphere but not corona and chromosphere?

We observe them in the corona and it is really only there that they take on the form of a flare, so I think corona would be the correct answer.

 

Sorry(I couldn`t say thank you though you remind me many times not to say sorry because "sorry" doesn`t fit in this context), I mean when does solar wind continuously occurs? Do you mean it just happens since the born of our Sun until today?

Yes, the solar wind has been in existence since the sun formed. Indeed there is a period in the early history of the sun, known as its T-Tauri phase, after a star in that phase in the constellation of Taurus, where the solar wind is so intense it clears away the last of the gas in the accretion disc from which the planets formed.

 

As far as I am aware the wind is then much as it is now, though I would expect it to be slighter weaker as the sun was cooler then.

 

Thanks for explanation but can you compare them instead of giving definitions about solar storm and solar wind? I mean what are the similarities and differences? Do you mean Coronal Mass Ejection(CME)? Solar storm can also be streams of particles emitted by the sun and moving outwards through space, so what are the differences?

I feel that I've given a reasonable basic description of the differences. Have you checked google for answers? I think that would be more productive for you to extract the details from various sources than for me to do the compilation for you.

 

 

Are you disagreeing with my teacher? Never mind, I won`t tell him. If possible, please give detailed explanation.

His claim is not one I am familiar with. Such cycles are of interest to me, so I would have thought it likely I would have heard of this before if it was a generally accepted idea. Therefore, I am expressing very strong doubts. I would want to see the research he bases this statement on. I should want to read a selection of papers that cite that research and see how they use it and what credibility they give it. I should want to consider what assumptions were made in their research and how rigorous their experimental method was. I would want to see how thoroughly they had considered alternative explanations for their observations, and so on.

 

 

Their physics of formation would prevent it. Well, can you explain the physics to me? I am eager to know. Thanks.

 

Sunspots arise as a consequence of complex magnetic fields. The models we have of those fields are sound - that is they duplicate the behaviour that we see. As far as know the size of the magnetic "disturbances" that can produce the sunspots could not become as large as you are speaking of. This is a very incomplete answer, but it is outside my areas of interest.

 

 

Your mentee.

[Nicholas Kang]

Ok, Thanks for answering. I will find answers for those that I still don`t understand and those that are marked incomplete by you. Thanks for your kind help.

 

Your student in Asia,

 

Nicholas Kang