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| [http://www.bbso.njit.edu/cgi-bin/LatestImages] | ||||
| Name: ________________________ | Due 10/17 | ID Number: ________________________ |
Here are six images of the Sun taken on six days in September 2005. A very large sunspot can be seen crossing the Sun's disk -- in fact, this spot was so large that it could be seen without a telescope!
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| [http://www.bbso.njit.edu/cgi-bin/LatestImages] | ||||
| 1. On the circle at right, plot the position of the sunspot on each successive day. Then, draw a line across the disk indicating the Sun's equator, and show which direction the Sun is rotating. |  |
2. Now, using the spot positions you plotted in step #1, measure the distance between the spot's position on 09/11/05 and its position on 09/16/05. Divide your result by the diameter of the circle. This gives you the fraction of the Sun's diameter the spot moved between 09/11/05 and 09/16/05.
3. The Sun's circumference C is related to its
diameter D by C = 
D. Using your result for step
#2, what fraction of the Sun's circumference did the
spot move?
4. Finally, given that approximately 5 days elapsed between 09/11/05 and 09/16/05, how long would it take the spot to make one complete circle around the Sun and return to its original position? This is the Sun's rotation period.
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Joshua E. Barnes
(barnes@ifa.hawaii.edu)
Last modified: October 9, 2006 http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/ast110_06/homework/hw07.html |
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