Sunspots

One of the most important things that we volunteers did this week was learn how to record sunspots at the Mueller Observatory. Every day, when possible, the astronomy department (i.e. Mr. Simpson) records the day’s solar activity, noting sunspots and pores. At the end of the month, Mr. Simpson submits the data to a national database of professional and amateur astronomers, who compile it all to produce an average of each day’s sunspots, creating a measure of solar activity. Although rather mundane, this task is probably one of the museum’s most important – as Mr. Simpson put it, it “contributes to science.”

Thus, on Wednesday, my fellow volunteers and I spent the afternoon learning how to record and analyze sunspots. After lining up and focusing the telescope, we helped Mr. Simpson adjust the data sheet on the projection board to line it up with the sun’s east-west movement. From there, we began to actually count the sunspots, noting the size, number, and distribution of spots in a group. (We even spotted one really large group that probably morphed into the recent solar flare depicted here.) From there, we sketched the spots, recorded the cloudiness and “seeing” (i.e. quality of the air, considering heat distortion, etc.) and called it a day.

Recording sunspot data