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The document discusses activities of the sun that affect Earth. It describes phenomena that occur on the sun's surface like granules, sunspots, solar cycles, prominences, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections. It also discusses solar winds and how eruptions release particles that interact with Earth's atmosphere. Finally, it defines Earth's magnetosphere and explains how it forms to protect the planet by blocking harmful solar particles.

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DURKHA SRI A/P SURESH NAIDU Moe
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36 views3 pages

9.1 Note

The document discusses activities of the sun that affect Earth. It describes phenomena that occur on the sun's surface like granules, sunspots, solar cycles, prominences, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections. It also discusses solar winds and how eruptions release particles that interact with Earth's atmosphere. Finally, it defines Earth's magnetosphere and explains how it forms to protect the planet by blocking harmful solar particles.

Uploaded by

DURKHA SRI A/P SURESH NAIDU Moe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 9: Space Weather 1 9.

1: Activities of the Sun that Affect Earth

Chapter 9: Space Weather

9.1: Activities of the Sun that Affect Earth

Structure of the Sun

Phenomena that Occur on the Surface of the Sun

• Granules
• Sunspots
• Solar cycles
• Prominences
• Solar flares
• Coronal mass ejections
• Solar winds

Granules
- the photosphere in the Sun’s atmosphere is made up of granules
- appear as grainy structures
- extremely hot with a temperature as high as 5 800 °C
- average diameter of a granule is about 1 000 kilometres

Sunspots
- the dark regions seen on the surface of the Sun
- appear dark because their temperatures are lower than their surrounding areas
- the locations of very large eruptions in the photosphere
- may last more than a week

Solar cycle
- the activity of the sunspots seems to appear and disappear according to a cycle that
lasts 11 years

Prominence
- is a huge loop or arched column of glowing gases over the
sunspot
- can reach heights of hundreds of thousands of kilometres
and may last for several days or months
- very strong can throw out matter from the Sun into space at
speeds ranging from 600 km s-1 to more than 1 000 km s-1

Science F3 2021 Ckg Ridhwan SMK TP


Chapter 9: Space Weather 2 9.1: Activities of the Sun that Affect Earth

Solar Flares
- is a column of large amounts of charged gases erupting from the Sun and often occurs
near sunspots
- strong and spectacular explosions of gases
- attain their maximum brightness level within a few seconds or minutes and then
become dim after a few minutes or hours
- spout charged gas particles at high speeds into outer space
- the light from solar flares which is at the speed of light
takes eight minutes to reach Earth while the charged gas
particles take tens of minutes
- these charged gas particles often collide with atoms and
molecules in Earth’s atmosphere to produce a stunning
light display in the sky known as aurora which uniquely
occurs only in the air space around Earth’s poles.

Coronal Mass Ejections


- is a huge cloud of plasma that erupts from the Sun and often occurs together with
solar flares which are huge and strong
- is an ejection of magnetic gas particles
- spouts magnetic particles at high speeds into outer space
and appears like an expanding cloud
- these magnetic particles from the coronal mass ejection
take three days to reach Earth
- the magnetic gas particles also react with atoms and
molecules in Earth’s atmosphere to produce aurora

Solar Wind
- Particles in plasma such as electrons, protons and
alpha particles that erupt from the Sun to outer
space travel together at high speeds known as solar
wind
- also carries the interplanetary magnetic field along
with it.
- the speed of solar wind is supersonic with values
ranging from 250 km s-1 to 750 km s-1
- However, the speed, temperature and density of the
solar wind changes along the course of its
movement.

Earth’s Magnetosphere and its Importance

Shape of Earth’s Magnetosphere

Science F3 2021 Ckg Ridhwan SMK TP


Chapter 9: Space Weather 3 9.1: Activities of the Sun that Affect Earth

Definition of Earth’s Magnetosphere


Earth’s magnetosphere is defined as a region in outer space surrounding
Earth where the magnetic field in Earth’s magnetosphere is a combination
of Earth’s magnetic field (as the prime magnetic field) and the magnetic
field in the region in outer space

Formation of Earth’s Magnetosphere


- is formed by the interaction between the magnetic field brought by the solar wind and
Earth’s magnetic field
- as the number and energy of particles brought by the solar wind change, the shape of
the magnetosphere also changes.

Importance of Earth’s Magnetosphere


- to protect Earth from the adverse effects caused by dangerous particles from the Sun
or other bodies in the Universe.

The magnetosphere:
• functions as a biological shield to protect life on Earth from the adverse effects of solar
wind
• blocks charged particles such as electrons, protons and alpha particles in the solar wind
from reaching Earth. Excessive numbers of charged particles in Earth’s atmosphere will
disrupt telecommunication, navigation system and electric power lines
• reduces the pressure exerted by solar wind on Earth’s atmosphere

Science F3 2021 Ckg Ridhwan SMK TP

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