Talk:Sunspot
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[edit] Solar cycle
It would be nice if people who contributed to this page could also help with the solar cycle (and solar maximum/solar minimum, etc... pages), which really need some extra information. USferdinand 03:13, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Galileo
Galileo was blinded late in life by an eye infection; his extensive observations of sunspots were 20 years earlier. The warning against direct observation has been corrected. Dandrake 02:42, Oct 28, 2003 (UTC)
[edit] 2003 X28 Flare
I'll go ahead and update the history to include the Nov 4 2003 record-setting X28 flare. Holographic images show there's still amazing activity on the far side of the sun. We'll see in a handful of days what might sweep across the ecliptic when that part of the Sun comes back into view. SEWilco 02:10, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC) co
concnerning the sunspost story a detail review are given in wilfried schröder, das phänomen des polarlichts, darmstadt, wissenschaftliche buchgesellschaft, 1984 (revised version Bremen: 2000)
[edit] The politics of the intro
Tsk tsk, Mr. Poor. The lines you added to the Intro support your politico-scientific views; and so far as I know, what they assert is accurate. But does this really belong in the Intro, where we are trying to say succinctly what sunspots are? Dandrake 18:47, Aug 6, 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Where in the cycle
One of the most obvious questions anyone who knows just a little about sunspots might want to ask is... Where are we in the sunspot cycle at the moment?
Neither this article nor any of the references seem to address this question, since after all, anyone who's reading technical stuff about sunspots would obviously already know!
As best I can tell from the charts included in the article, we're approaching a minima; would someone who actually knows like to confirm this by adding something to the article to this effect?
- Seems a fair question. I put it into the intro from one of the refs. I'm not sure if it belongs there. William M. Connolley 21:29, 7 January 2006 (UTC).
[edit] History
The last sentence in the sixth paragraph says "Even the lack of a solar corona during lunar eclipses was noted prior to 1715." Shouldn't it be solar eclipses? RWinther, January 10, 2006, 02:55 (UTC)
[edit] Date of first observation
How certian is the date, 28 BC for the Chinese first observation? Here is a source that gives 170 BC. -MrFizyx 15:31, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
- This article from the UNESCO Courier cites afew earlier observations and the 28 BC observation, looks like we should go with 4th century BC or 165 BC. -MrFizyx 15:39, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Sunspots and revolutions
William M. Connolley thinks that William James Sidis was into astrology. Sidis couldn't even listen to irrational things (like the bible). Read his biography! as I wrote in edit summary: link talks about correlation of ionization from the sun radiation on human mood etc. You can compare this with seasonal affective disorder. Lakinekaki 23:11, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
- Nope, I think CarolMoore is [1], whoever she may be. Sidis is probably of historical interest; his theory is junk, because he has it the wrong way round To explain this, I may say that sun spots are rifts in the surface of the sun, exposing a lower layer. This lower layer gives less light and heat than the surface, and therefore, the more spots there are on the sun, the less heat the sun will give, and the cooler will be the climate. However, he's a useful example, so I thank you for providing him! William M. Connolley 23:19, 31 January 2006 (UTC).
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- Welcome!69.33.60.41
[edit] Disk viewer
I removed someone's claim that a floppy disk can be used to view the sun. Someone have a source that this is indeed safe (and preferably also that it is not an opaque material)? (SEWilco 01:47, 15 August 2006 (UTC))
[edit] Starspots?
Similar phenomena observed on stars other than the Sun are commonly called starspots. - do we really have the rez to see them on other stars? William M. Connolley 08:23, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
- We can see changes in the brightness of other stars that are interpreted to be caused by spots. Dragons flight 19:51, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
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- OK, I thought it might be something like that. But the text seems misleading as written (not to mention unsourced) William M. Connolley 20:03, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] sunspot temperatures
I'm no expert but the listed temperatures are low compared to standard sources (e.g., Allen's astrophysical quantites; Ostlie+Carroll; Zirker) which quote 4000 K
- Not only that, but the article also says "umbra (temperatures around 2200 °C), penumbra (temperatures around 3000 °C)." Yet in the intro, it says they're between 4000 and 4500K. I'm no expert either, but I do know that there's a big difference between 3000C and 4000K... --TheSlyFox 07:48, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
Sunspots appear darker (relative to the unaffected areas of the sun) in the visible spectrum, however in the ultraviolet and higher frequency spectra they appear to be very much brighter. (Source - "The Sun" a one hour British science documentary shown on SBS television, Australia, March 18, 20:30).
This would seem to indicate that the emitted radiation has increased from the visible frequency band to a higher-energy band. This is consistent with an INCREASE in temperature. DrBob127 23:35, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
- Ok, if no-one is going to offer a differing viewpoint, then I am going to change the introduction to reflect the fact that sunspots are not cooler but in fact hotter than the surrounding area (with appropriate references of course) DrBob127 02:24, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
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- Ok, I was wrong, sunspots are cooler despite emitting higher energy radiation. DrBob127 02:43, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Sunspot life cycle
Is it worth mentioning the life cycle of a sunspot? I.e. that they are born at the equator and die at the poles? Jamie 10:37, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
