THE PERIOD OF ROTATION

OF THE SUN
Student Manual
A Manual to Accompany Software for the
Introductory Astronomy Lab Exercise
Document SM 11: Circ.Version 1.0

Department of Physics
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Telephone: (717) 337-6028
email: [email protected]
Database, Software, and Manuals prepared by:
Laurence Marschall and Glenn Snyder (CLEA PROJECT, Gettysburg College)
and
Jeff Sudol (GONG Project, National Solar Observatory)

Contemporary Laboratory
Experiences in Astronomy

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

Contents
Goals .................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Overall Strategy: Things to think about when analyzing the pictures of the Sun ........................................................ 7
Calculating the sidereal period of rotation of the Sun from your measurements......................................................... 8
Equipment........................................................................................................................................................................... 9
A users Guide to the Program: The Period of Rotation of the Sun................................................................................ 9
Loading and Displaying Images ............................................................................................................................... 10
Animating a Series of Images .................................................................................................................................. 10
Measuring the Positions of Spots ............................................................................................................................. 11
Recording Data.......................................................................................................................................................... 13
Seeing a Table of Recorded Data ............................................................................................................................. 13
Plotting Latitudes and Longitudes of Spots Versus Time...................................................................................... 14
Using the Program in the Period of Rotation Exercise .......................................................................................... 15
The Period of Rotation of the Sun: Discovery Based Procedure (Instructors Option) ............................................. 16
Extra Credit Project: Latitude dependence of the Solar Rotation Rate...................................................................... 17
The Period of Rotation of the Sun: Step-By-Step Procedure (May not be Present if Instructor Opts for
Discovery Based Procedure)....................................................................................................................................... 18

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

LEARNING GOALS

The student should be able to state the direction of rotation of the Sun as seen from the
earth.
The student should be able to state the rate of rotation of the Sun.
The student should be able to explain how rate of rotation of the Sun can be determined
from observations of sunspots.
The student should be able to describe the appearance of sunspots, the long-term changes
in the appearance of sunspots, and the lifetimes of sunspots.
The student should develop an appreciation of the complexities in interpreting twodimensional photographs of the three-dimensional Sun as observed from the moving
earth.
The student should develop an appreciation of the difficulty of turning images into
meaningful scientific information.

PROCEDURAL OBJECTIVES
If you learn to

Use CLEA software to display CCD images of the Sun taken by the Gong Project
cameras.
Measure the positions of sunspots on the pictures.
Understand the relation between the x and y positions and spherical coordinates on the
curved surface of the Sun.
Determine how fast the longitude and latitude of spots on the Sun change.
Understand the relation between the angular speed of a spot and the rotation rate of the
Sun.
Understand the difference between the synodic period of rotation of the Sun and the
sidereal period of rotation of the Sun.

You should be able to

Select a series of images with sunspots suitable for measurement.

View an animation of the images showing the motion of the spots as the Sun rotates.
Devise a procedure for determining the apparent rotation rate of the Sun by measuring the
positions of sunspots.
Convert the apparent rotation rate of the Sun into the sidereal rate of rotation of the Sun.
Explore how the rotation rate of the Sun depends on latitude.

USEFUL TERMS YOU SHOULD REVIEW IN YOUR TEXTBOOK AND IN

THIS MANUAL
Degrees
Photosphere

Heliographic
Coordinates
Revolution

Julian Day

Latitude

Longitude

Pixels

Rotation

Sidereal
Rotation
Period

Sunspot

Synodic
Rotation
Period

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

Introduction
Though there are ancient Chinese records of spots on the Sun seen at sunset, the solar
disk is generally too bright, and sunspots too small, to be seen with the naked eye. But
sunspots are easily seen using a telescope.1 Thus it is not surprising that Galileo Galilei,
who pioneered the use of the telescope in astronomy, was one of the first to publish a
series of observations of sunspots that he made with the telescope in 1613. Galileo was
quick to recognize that the spots were markings on the visible surface of the Sun, and that
they moved as the Sun rotated. Three of his sketches of sunspots, made on three
consecutive days, are seen Figure 1. These sketches clearly show the motion of the
sunspots (we have added the arrows to emphasize the motion of one of the spots) Note
that the detailed appearance of the spots does appear to change---this isnt due to
imperfect drawing skills on the part of Galileo, but due to the variability in appearance of
the sunspots themselves. They grow and shrink in size, and spots last a few weeks at most
before fading out.
Figure 1

The motion of the spots affords us a way of measuring the rotation rate of the
solar surface. Solar rotation is one of the principal factors affecting the roughly 11-year
cycle of sunspot activity, solar flares, and other phenomena. In the 1860s Richard
Christopher Carrington used sunspots to determine that the period of rotation of the Sun
depends on latitude. Spots near the equator of the Sun go around every 25 days, while
spots near latitude 45 go around once every 28 days. This so called differential rotation
would not be possible if the Sun were a solid body.
Determining the solar rotation rate from sunspots is easy in principle---you time
how fast a spot takes to go once around the Sun, or perhaps some fraction of the distance
around the Sun. However it is difficult to watch the Sun continuously. The Sun is below
1

WARNING: Do not look directly at the Sun through a telescope! The intense Sunlight will cause
permanent eye damage. The Sun can be viewed through a telescope only if a solar filter is used in
conjunction with the telescope. Solar filters reject more than 96% of the light of the Sun. These filters are
specially designed to fit specific telescopes, and should be attached firmly to the telescope so that they
dont fall off during viewing. The Sun can also be viewed with a telescope using a technique called
eyepiece projection. In this technique, the image of the Sun is projected onto a white screen for viewing.

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

the horizon about half of the day (except near the poles), and weather often interferes
with observations. So in practice, it is rather difficult to get a continuous record of
where the spots are day by day.
In 1995, however, astronomers at the National Solar Observatory completed the
construction of a global network of telescopes capable of continuous observations of the
Sun. When the Sun sets on one telescope, the Sun is still high in the sky at another
telescope. The six telescopes in the network are located in Big Bear, California; Mauna
Loa, Hawaii; Learmonth, Australia; Udiapur, India; El Teide, Tenerife (The Canary
Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean), and Cerro Tololo, Chile. The telescopes are operated by
the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) based in Tucson, Arizona. Because the
Sun is so bright, the telescopes are small, and can be housed in modular trailers, not in the
large domes used for telescopes that look at the stars (Figure 2.). The GONG telescopes
provided the images used in this exercise---check out the GONG website at
http://gong.nso.edu for details about the GONG Project and the telescope sites.

Figure 2: The GONG network

The GONG telescopes are robotic telescopes, imaging the Sun once per minute
from sunrise to sunset without human interaction. The telescopes are designed to monitor
solar oscillations. Sound waves (acoustic waves) are generated deep inside the Sun.
Some of these waves travelling through the Sun can become "trapped" returning to the
surface over and over again (see Figure 3). The properties of these waves depend on the
internal structure of the Sun, so astronomers can infer the internal structure of the Sun
from observations of the waves that appear at the surface. The problem is complicated,

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

though, in that numerous waves are present on the surface all the time. The surface of the
Sun is similar to the surface of the ocean, having peaks and valleys created by the mixing
of many waves of different wavelengths (see Figure 4). Accurate determinations of the
structure of the interior of the Sun therefore require numerous, short exposure images to
be taken in succession for long periods of time (from a minimum of about four hours to
months on end). For the purposes of our exercise on solar rotation, however, the
important thing is that the GONG images can also be used to track sunspots.

Figure 3: Sound waves bouncing

around inside the Sun.

Figure 4: A velocity image from one

of the GONG solar telescopes - dark
regions correspond to troughs, bright
regions to peaks.

The database for the CLEA Solar Rotation Lab consists of 368 images obtained at
the GONG solar telescopes between January 1, 2002 and April 30, 2002. Although
images are acquired once per minute while the Sun is up at each of the GONG solar
telescopes (averaging a total of about 3600 images per day!), the database for this lab
contains only three images per day. On average thats one image every 8 hours, which is
more than sufficient to determine the rate of rotation of the Sun.
A note about the images: The original images from the GONG telescopes have
been processed to remove artifacts from the CCD cameras, to make the images uniform
in brightness, and to orient al lof the images in the same direction. Other than that, the
images in this exercise retain the high fidelity of the originals (Figure 5). These are the
best images to date from which the rotation rate of the Sun can be determined, not just
because they were taken so frequently, but also because they have very high spatial
resolution (that is, they show a lot of fine detail) . The images are 860 x 860 pixels in
size, and oriented so that north is up, westward on the sun is to the left, and eastward on
the sun is to the right. The solar disk is about 720 pixels across on each image. Each
pixel corresponds to 2.5 arcseconds, or about 1800 km on the surface of the Sun at the
center of the disk. Because of the geometry of projecting a sphere (the Sun) onto a plane
(the CCD camera), each pixel corresponds to larger and larger areas the closer it is to the

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

edge of the solar disk. At a distance 95% out to the edge of the Sun, for example, each
pixel corresponds to 6000 km on the surface.

Figure 5: A typical image of the Sun from GONG .

Arrows have been added to indicate
directions on the solar globe.

Overall Strategy: Things to think about when analyzing the pictures.

The CLEA software associated with this exercise allows you to display images of
the Sun from the GONG solar telescopes and to measure the positions of sunspots. The
software details will be described later, but the basic idea of the scientific problem you
will be investigating can be understood even before you get into the details of the
software.
Your primary goal is to use a series of the GONG images to figure out as
precisely as possible how long it takes the Sun to rotate once, a number we call the
sidereal rotation period of the Sun. Your value should be expressed as a number and a
fraction of a day (e.g. 22.11 days). Since the images you have are spaced about 8 hours
apart, you might think you could at least determine the rotation rate to the nearest 8
hours, or 0.33 day.
The easiest way to determine the period of rotation of the Sun would be to find a
sunspot and just watch it until it comes back to the same place on the images. But here
are some questions you should ask yourself, and which you should try to answer when
looking at the images:

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

Can you find a sunspot or group of sunspots on the Sun, and then
recognize it when it comes around again? It will be clear, as you do this,
which way the Sun is rotating.
Do sunspots live long enough on the surface of the Sun to survive one
rotation?
Is it possible that there might be a missing picture (due to inclement
weather or a broken telescope) at the time the spot came around again?
What if the rotation rate of the Sun isnt evenly divisible by 8 hours (the
average time between the GONG images in the database)? Will the spot
return to exactly the same place on the images after one rotation of the
Sun?
Can you think of several strategies that dont require you to see a sunspot
make one complete rotation which you can use to determine how long it
takes the Sun to rotate through a full 360 degrees? (Hint: What if you
were only able to measure how long it takes to rotate through 30
degrees?)

Calculating the Sidereal Period of Rotation of the Sun From your

Measurements
The value you determine from Earth-based images of the Sun is what is called the
synodic period of rotation. This is the apparent rotation period of the Sun as seen from
the Earth, not the true rotation period of the Sun because the Earth is in motion,
orbiting around the Sun from west to east as the Sun rotates. The true rotation period
of the Sun, known as the sidereal period of rotation, is the time it takes for a point on the
Sun to rotate once with respect to the distant stars. In the time that it takes a point on the
Sun to turn 360 degrees with respect to the stars, the Earth will have moved ahead in its
orbit. The Sun will have to rotate a little further to catch up to the Earth. Therefore the
synodic period is a bit longer than the sidereal period.
Fortunately, we can correct for this added time, since we know how fast the earth goes
around the Sun (about one revolution every 365.25 days). If P is the sidereal period of
rotation in days (this is what you want to determine), and S is the synodic period of
rotation of the Sun in days (this is what you have measured), then
P= (S 365.25) / (S + 365.25)

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

Equipment
This experiment requires a Windows-based computer, the CLEA program The Period of
Rotation of Rotation of the Sun, and a scientific calculator. (Note that modern
computers usually provide such a calculator.) You may also find it useful, but not
essential, to use a spreadsheet and/or graph paper.

A Users guide to The Period of Rotation of the Sun

A Program for Displaying and Measuring Sunspots on Solar Images
Starting the Program
Your computer should be turned on and running Windows. Your instructor will tell you
how to find the icon or menu bar for starting the Period of Rotation of the Sun exercise.
Position the mouse over the icon or menu bar and click to start the program. When the
program starts, the CLEA logo should appear in a window on your screen. Go to the File
menu at the top of that window, click on it, and select the Login option from the menu.
Fill in the form that appears with your name (and partners name, if applicable). Do not
use punctuation marks. Press Tab to move to the next text block, or click in each text
block to enter the next name. Next enter the Laboratory table number or letter if it is not
already filled in for you. Click in appropriate field to correct any errors. When all the
information has been entered to your satisfaction, click OK to continue, and click yes
when asked if you are finished logging in. The opening screen of the Period of Rotation
of the Sun lab will then appear.
Accessing the HELP Files
You may, at any time, select Help from the menu to receive on-line help. Click Help
located on the right hand side of the menu bar. Within HelpTopics, there are five
options that you can select: Login, Files, Images, Reports, and Close the Program.
LogIn informs you of the initial steps required to begin the program. Files provides
information on the types of files used in this exercise. Images explains how to retrieve
images, make measurements on images, and print images. HelpTopicReports
shows you how you can review your recorded data. Close the Program gives the
procedure on how to exit the program as well as a reminder of any unsaved data. About
This Exercise displays the title and version number of the program as well as the
copyright information.

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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Loading and Displaying Images

When you first run the program you will see a Main File List area with two
frames, the left labeled loaded images and the right labeled image database. Both will
be blank. After you load the image database from the File menu, you will see a list of the
available GONG images, ordered by date, in the image database window. You can load
and display an image in one of two ways. You can right-click on the date of the image
you want to display, then select load image from the popup box that appears (which also
lets you print the list of images or search for a particular date). Or you can simply
double-click the left mouse button on the date of the image you want to display.
When you first load an image, its date is also displayed in the list of loaded
images. The last-selected image is automatically displayed in a large popup image
display window.
You can display any of the images in the loaded images window by double
clicking on the image date. Or you can use the right mouse button to bring up a pop-up
menu that will allow you to display the image, remove it, or remove all the images
currently loaded.
Figure 6: Main window and image display window.

Animating a Series of images

Once you have several images loaded, you can have the program display each one
in sequence automatically as an animation. You can do this in either of two ways. On the

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

11

main menu bar over the list of images, select the images option, then select animate. Or
on the menu bar over the image display window, select animationstart. You can stop
the animation using the same menu bars.
Measuring the Positions of Spots
The image display permits you to measure the positions of points on the Sun. To
start measuring sunspot positions, choose file..image..measure from the menu bar at the
top of the image display. A small window will appear with digits to indicate the position
of the cursor in pixels and in apparent heliographic coordinates. The position of the
cursor is updated whenever you click the left mouse button, or continuously if you hold
the button down. You will also see a small magnification window that shows the area
around the cursor. (see figure 7). Pixels are of course just the little blocks that make up
the picture, and pixel 0,0 is right in the center of the image. Apparent heliographic
coordinates, however, require some explanation.
Heliographic coordinates are similar to longitude and latitude on Earth. The
poles of the Sun are at +90 (north) latitude and -90 (south) latitude. The equator of the
Sun is at 0 latitude. The 0 heliographic longitude line runs right down the middle of the
solar disk as you see it, with positive lines of longitude to the right, and negative ones to
the left. (see figure 8). ). Unlike longitude lines on the Earth, heliographic longitude
lines are not fixed to the surface of the Sun and do not rotate with the Sun! The
computer uses the x and y pixel values, plus a little trigonometry, to calculate the
apparent heliographic latitude and longitude for the location of the cursor on the image.

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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Figure 7: Measuring the positions of spots on solar images

There is one complication you might want to note. Even though the center of the
solar disk in every image is at 0 longitude, it is not at 0 latitude. That is because the
axis of rotation of the Sun is tilted by about 7 from the plane of the ecliptic (the plane of
the orbit of the Earth). At some times during the year the Sun appears tipped away from
us, and at other times it appears tipped toward us. Only in June and December do we see
the axis at right angles to our line of sight. When measuring positions on the images, you
will find that the edge of the Sun is not always 90 heliographic longitude; this is also a
result of the tilt of the solar globe.
Figure 8: Heliographic Coordinates

The apparent heliographic coordinate system is a good one for measuring the
positions of sunspots. Consider the following questions to test your understanding of
what to expect:
Imagine a spot located to the left of the centerline of the Sun. Is its
longitude a positive or negative number?

Imagine a spot located to the right of the centerline of the Sun. Is its
longitude a positive or negative number?

If you had a series of consecutive pictures taken over the course of several
days, how would you expect that the apparent latitude of a sunspot would
change from one picture to the next?

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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If you had a series of consecutive pictures taken over the course of several
days, how would you expect that the apparent longitude of a sunspot
would change from one picture to the next?

Recording Data
When you are measuring sunspot positions, there will be a small window on the
screen labeled Sunspot Measurement Data. When you click the record button, the
image date and time and the position of the cursor are written to a data file. If your
instructor has turned on the automatic centroiding feature, the software will calculate
the precise center of the sunspot beneath the cursor when you click the right mouse
button. If the automatic centroiding feature is not available, place the cursor as close to
the center of the spot as possible before recording the position. The small magnification
window helps by giving a magnified view of where the cursor is pointing, and you can
make fine adjustments using the sliders on the magnification window or the arrow
buttons on the keyboard. ( When using the arrow buttons, note that you have to
activate either the vertical or horizontal motion of the cursor by clicking on the
vertical or horizontal slider on the magnification button---the arrow keys will either move
the cursor horizontally or vertically, but not both at the same time. )
Theres also a space in the Sunspot Measurement Data window to write in a letter
or number or name that identifies a particular sunspot. Of course if youre going to be
measuring the same spot on several images, be sure to use the same identification on each
picture.
Seeing a Table of Recorded Data
At any time after you have some data recorded, you can view all the recorded data
in a separate Sunspot Position Measurements window. To do this, go back to the Main
File List window and choose file..measurement data from the main menu bar. There are
choices that let you view the current data, or load a file of previously saved data. If you
choose to view the list, you will see the data window appear on the screen. (see Figure 9).
The columns are labeled; the data for each sunspot is sorted by the letter, number, or
name of the sunspot in the order of increasing time. In addition to the date and time of
the observation, the window will list the Julian Date of the observation, which is a
running day number and fraction that is convenient for keeping track of astronomical
times. Instead of having to remember the number of days in a particular month when
subtracting one date from another, you simply subtract one Julian Date number from
another to get the number of days between two observations. A Julian Date begins at
Noon, Universal Time; 0.5 day, of course, is 12 hours; each 0.0001 day is about 8
seconds.
You can print the data in the Sunspot Position Measurements window by
choosing List..print from the menu bar. You can edit individual entries (if you made a

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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mistake in entering data) by right-clicking the mouse on the line you want to edit. You
can delete a line by selecting it and then choosing Edit..Delete selected measurement
from the menu bar.

Figure 9 : Recorded data listings.

Plotting Latitudes and Longitudes of Spots versus Time
Recorded latitude and longitude for a given spot can be plotted versus time using
the plot data menu choice from the main file list window. You can choose to plot either
the latitude or the longitude for each spot. The plots can be printed. The program can
also calculate best fit straight lines through the data, and display the slope and the
intercept of the line for each set of data belonging to each sunspot you have measured.
The slope of the line---expressed in degrees per day (the rate of motion of the sunspot
youre measuring)---is displayed at the lower right of the plot, as is the intercept (the time
in Julian days at which the spot crosses the center of the image). You can make
adjustments to these lines to get the best fit in your own judgment. (see Figure 10.)
The data for several different sunspots can be plotted on the same graph, or you
can open separate windows for each set of data and plot the data for just one spot at a
time. When displaying multiple plots, clicking on a particular plot will select that plot for
line fitting or editing.
Plotting data like this can be a very useful way to determine the rotation period of
the Sun, but you may prefer to use a spreadsheet or devise your own method that makes
use of the data you copy off the screen. In your lab report or lab notebook, be sure to
describe just how you are using the program, so that your instructor can see how you got
your answers.

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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Figure 10: Plotting data and fitting a line.

Figure 11: Multiple plots on the same graph.

Using the program in the Period of Rotation Exercise

There are numerous ways in which you can use this program to determine the
solar rotation rate. Your instructor may provide you with a detailed procedure for this
exercise, or may simply ask you to experiment with the program to discover your own
method for determining the rotation rate. The users guide on the previous pages is only
a guide, not a prescription. Experiment with the program. Try discovering some of its

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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possibilities by trial and error, and by reading the help screens for the program. Ask your
instructor as questions arise.

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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The Period of Rotation of the Sun: Discovery-Based Procedure

The Problem:
To determine an accurate value for the sidereal rotation period of the Sun.
Resources:
1) Images from the GONG telescopes.
2) CLEA Software for displaying and measuring sunspots on the GONG images.
3) Other software, calculators, and reference works you choose to use.
4) Your instructors and lab partners who are available for discussion and help.
Report Format options
1) Raw data and brief analysis:
Submit the following data stapled together:
Print outs of sample data
Table of measurements
Plots used to derive results.
A sheet containing formulas used and sample calculations used in the experiment.
A paragraph or two stating the final result.
2) Journal Article format:
The report should describe what you did, what you recorded, how you analyzed the data,
and what you concluded. Be brief---you dont need to write down every mouse click you
made. But be clear, so that if someone unfamiliar with the experiment were to read it, that
person could understand just what you did and why. Include the following sections:
Introduction describing the background and motivation for the work.
Data and basic measurements, including, if applicable
o A sample image.
o Printout of data tables
o A brief description of what measurements you made and how you made
them.
Plots and analysis
o Any graphs you used.
o Description of the method used to turn the raw data (e.g. sunspot
positions) into desired results; Describe the logic of the method and show
the formulas used in any calculations.
o Tables of calculated data if more than one number was calculated, or if
several numbers were averaged together.
Summary and conclusions: State what you did and what the important results
were.

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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Extra Credit Project: Latitude Dependence of the Solar Rotation Rate

Once you feel understand how to determine the rate of rotation of the Sun using
sunspots, its possible to demonstrate that the surface of the Sun doesnt rotate like a
solid body, but has differential rotation. You will need to select sunspots at different
latitudes for this investigation. It will be best to search through the images to find
three or four whose latitudes are as different as possible---one close to the equator,
and the others further and further from the equator, with one being as far from the
equator as possible. You may also find that most of the spots on the 2002 images are
very close to the equator---near sunspot maximum the spots tend to appear near the
equator. You may want to see if your instructor has additional GONG images taken
at a different time in the solar cycle.

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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The Period of Rotation of the Sun: Step-by-Step Procedure

1) Run the CLEA Period of Rotation of the Sun software. Log in. Choose Filerun and
the main data window will appear. Choose File..image database..image directory..load
and the times of available images of the Sun will appear in the image database window
(the right half of the window.) Scroll down the window to see what dates are available.
All the images were taken between these dates:
________________________________ and ___________________________.
2) Select 6 or 7 images by double-clicking the left mouse button. The dates of the images
will appear in the loaded images window (the left half of the main window). An image
display window will also open, showing you one of the loaded images of the Sun.
Animate the images by choosing Animation..start on this image display window. You
can stop the animation by choosing Animationstop from the menu.
Watch the sunspots. In which direction does the Sun rotate on these images (L to
R or R to L)? _____________________________________.
Which side of the images is North? _______________.
Which side is Eastward on the sun?____________________.
3) Choose a sunspot to measure, call it sunspot A. Choose a sunspot that has just
rotated into view, then load all of the images for 4 or 5 days following the image in which
the sunspot first appears (see step #2 for loading images). Anything listed in the loaded
images window can be displayed by double-clicking on the listing. If the listing gets
cluttered with images you dont intend to measure (because they contain no suitable
spots), you can clean it up by choosing Imagescut or Images.clear all images on the
menu bar.
4) Next
If your instructor is having you make a written record of your data, list the dates
of the images you have chosen in the data table for sunspot rotation (several
copies of this may be provided by your instructor), and make a sketch of the
position of the spot you are measuring in the space provided. (Just one typical
image will do).

If your instructor is having you use the computer to print out records of your data,
you can proceed to the next step.

5) Measure and record the heliographic coordinates of sunspot A on each of your chosen
images using the cursor and the mouse. Follow the instructions in the software guide
provided with this exercise (see page 9). If your instructor is having you make a written
record of your data, record the data on the data table provided. Otherwise, the computer
will record the data in a file that you can print later.

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

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6) Plot and analyze the coordinate data for sunspot A. Choose Analysis..plot fit data from
the main window menu. The Solar Rotation Analysis window will appear. Choose
File..dataset..load ..longitude values from the Solar Rotation Analysis menu bar and
select the values for spot A. The data will be plotted (time on the x axis and heliographic
longitude on the y axis.) Depending on how your instructor has set up the software, the
program will either compute a best fit line through the data or allow you to fit the line
yourself using two sliders. If you are fitting the line with the sliders, try to get the lowest
error of fit as displayed in the digital readout labled fit (RMS Degrees) in the lower
left of the Analysis window.
When you are satisfied with your data, write your results for the slope and the intercept of
the graph in ANALYSIS TABLE 1 below. Also, record the slope and intercept you have
measured in a data file by choosing File..record results from the Analysis window menu
bar. Print the graph showing the line and your fit by choosing File..print on the Analysis
window menu bar and submit it with this report.
Analysis table 1: Rate of motion of selected sunspots
SPOT IDENTIFIER
Slope (Degrees per Day)
Intercept (Julian Day)
A
B
C
7) Measure the rotation rate of two other spots, following the steps above, and write the
results in Analysis Table 1 above.
8) You can now calculate the synodic rotation rate and the sidereal rotation rate of the
Sun.
The slope of the sunspot longitude versus time line is the number of degrees per
day a sunspot moves on average. If you divide this number into 360, you get the
number of days it takes for the spot to rotate through 360 degrees---which is the
synodic rotation rate of the Sun. If we let S equal the synodic rotation rate of the
Sun,
S[days] = 360 [degrees] / Slope[degrees per day]
Once you have the synodic period, use the formula on page 8 to calculate the
sidereal rotation period of the Sun. Average your results for the three spots, and
record the average value on the table, too. Fill in Analysis Table 2.
Analysis Table 2: Sidereal and Synodic Rotation Rate Calculations
SPOT IDENTIFIER
Synodic Rotation
Sidereal Rotation Rate
Rate(days)
(days)
A
B
C
AVERAGE SIDEREAL ROTATION RATE (days)

The Period of Rotation of the Sun

21

9) Try opening the analysis window and plotting latitude data for one of the spots. What
can you say about how the latitude of a sunspot changes with time?

10) If you are using the computer to record and print your results, print out the coordinate
measurements for each spot by choosing File..measurement data..view/edit. A Sunspot
position measurement window will appear. Choose List..print from the menu bar to print
your data. Attach it to the printed report when you turn it in.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
1) Why would you expect there to be more uncertainty in the heliographic coordinates of
sunspots near the edge of the sun?

2) By examining a representative sample of images, estimate the average number of

sunspots visible on any day between January and April, 2002.

DATA TABLE FOR SUNSPOT ROTATION

Now
SPOT IDENTIFICATION (Number or Letter) ===
Date and time
Heliocentric
Longitude

Heliocentric
Latitude