What You'll Find in Each Section
The "HISTORY" section discusses
the importance of the sun to ancient cultures and their understanding of
sunspots. The section also details how the development of the telescope
began to change our assessment of sunspots. In addition, a simple method
for viewing sunspots on your own is included.
The development of new technology has increased
our knowledge of how the sun works. The "MODERN RESEARCH" section
explains what sunspots are and how they affect earth.
This site also provides you with the opportunity to do your own sunspot
observation and measurement. The "ACTIVITY" section contains a
Java application in which you can record the number of sunspots present
in both visible light and x-ray images.
This web site does not comprehensively
cover the topic of solar physics (or even sunspots for that matter!).
However, in examining some of the physical workings of the sun we
use some terms which may be unfamiliar. To help, a "GLOSSARY"
of terms has been included.
We hope you enjoy the Exploratorium's sunspots resource
To see the latest sunspot activity,
ttake a quick look at today's solar
images from the Yokoh and SOHO spacecraft.