EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
WRITING ASSIGNMENT #3 - YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE
Galileo was the first scientist to make detailed observations of the Sun using his design of the telescope. In 1612, he illustrated a series of sunspots and noted their progress around the Sun on successive days. Since Galileo's first observations, the Sun has been a source of wonder and considerable study by scientists. Presently, there are a number of orbiting platforms making continual observations of our nearest star, and much data is available in the form of digital imagery from various web sites. This exercise is designed to give you an opportunity to observe a variety of phenomena associated with the Sun, as seen using instruments aboard the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
YOUR ASSIGNMENT FOR THIS WEEK:
Your task this week is to create an animated visualizations of various aspects of the Sun using SOHO imagery. There are several imaging sensors aboard SOHO that are used to observe different aspects of the Sun. If you have not already done so, use your Internet assignment this week to familiarize yourself with SOHO and its onboard instruments. Once you have completed that task, complete the animations below and answer the questions that follow from you observations.
PART I: Create an animation using imagery from the LASCO C3 instrument onboard SOHO. Here's what to do:
1. Go to the SOHO website and find the link for "Archive" under the "DATA" heading on the left side of the page..
2. From the "DATA Archive" page, locate Near Real-Time Date and follow the link for "Search for Near Real Time Images"
3. From the search page, select LASCO C3 from the menu, choose resolution '256x256', click the radio button under "Display" to 'List', then under 'Latest n Images', set n = 500.
a. the search for your date will take some time, so be patient.
b. When your list appears, click on the "Download all LASCO C3" button and follow the instructions to download imagery to your computer. Make note of exactly where you are downloading images on your computer because you will need to find the files so you can place them in Movie Maker!
c. Once you have downloaded your images, go start Windows Movie Maker and continue your work.
4. Start up Windows Movie Maker. Import all your images into the 'collections' panel of Movie Maker. Use the "Tools" and 'options' menu to determine an appropriate timing for each frame of your movie (I recommend the shortest times as a starting point), and create a movie showing the view of the Sun provided by the LASCO C3 instrument. Once you have prepared your movie, be sure to save both the project and save the movie (these are different steps) on your computer. To complete your assignment, answer the questions that follow related to you animation.
PART II: What have you just done?
1. Provide a written summary of the LASCO C3 instrument. In your own words tell me, What is it measuring? How does it work? What is the view of the Sun that is offered by this instrument? Why is this view important? What is the typical time interval between images? How many images/hour? per day? How many days does your animation span?
2. What does your animation show? What is the 'streaming' or 'shimmering' effect on the images caused by? Describe your observations of the animation - what phenomena do you observe? Are they any unusual features or phenomena that you observe? Are there individual images or short series of images showing unusual features or phenomena?
3. About half-way through the animation, a bright spot appears in the lower right quadrant of the images. What is this object? Is it stationary or moving? Why?
4. The background of the image is "spotty" or "grainy". What are the grains? Is the background static or dynamic (i.e. unchanging or changing)? Why?
PART III: Create an animation using imagery from the MDI Continuum imaging instrument onboard SOHO. Here's what to do:
1. Go to the SOHO website and find the link for "Archive" under the "DATA" heading on the left side of the page..
2. From the "DATA Archive" page, locate Near Real-Time Date and follow the link for "Search for Near Real Time Images"
3. From the search page, select "MDI Continuum" from the menu, choose resolution '256x256', click the radio button under "Display" to 'List', then under 'Latest n Images', set n = 500.
a. the search for your date will take some time, so be patient.
b. When your list appears, click on the "Download all MDI Continuum" button and follow the instructions to download imagery to your computer. Make note of exactly where you are downloading images on your computer because you will need to find the files so you can place them in Movie Maker!
c. Once you have downloaded your images, go start Windows Movie Maker and continue your work.
4. Start up Windows Movie Maker. Import all your images into the 'collections' panel of Movie Maker. Use the "Tools" and 'options' menu to determine an appropriate timing for each frame of your movie (I recommend the shortest times as a starting point), and create a movie showing the view of the Sun provided by the MDI Continuum instrument. Once you have prepared your movie, be sure to save both the project and save the movie (these are different steps) on your computer. To complete your assignment, answer the questions that follow related to you animation.
PART IV: What have you just done?
1. Provide a written summary of the MDI Continuum instrument. In your own words tell me, What is it measuring? How does it work? What is the view of the Sun that is offered by this instrument? Why is this view important? What is the typical time interval between images? How many images/hour? per day? How many days does your animation span?
2. What does your animation show? Describe your observations of the animation - what phenomena do you observe? Are there any unusual features or phenomena that you observe? Are there individual images or short series of images showing unusual features or phenomena?
3. Can you correlate any of your images showing anomalies to any of the LASCO C3 images showing anomalies? If so, which ones? What is the correlation you observe? If not, why not?
4. Estimate the rotational speed of the Sun using the movement of sunspots. How fast is the Sun spinning? How many hours does it take to complete a single rotation?
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