Sunspots, the solar cycle and space weather
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Drawing of the Sun's surface with dark sunspots. Why do sunspots look dark, by Ari's reading (NOAA)?
- They are hotter and give off less light
- They are shadows cast by planets
- They are cooler than the surface around them
- They are holes showing a cold core
Read this first
Sun surface temperatures (NOAA)
Region Temperature sunspot center about 7,000 °F (3,900 °C) photosphere about 10,000 °F (5,500 °C) NOAA gives sunspot centers about 7,000 °F (3,900 °C) and the photosphere around them about 10,000 °F (5,500 °C). Which is true, by Bo's reading?
- Both are the same temperature
- Sunspots are about 17,000 °F
- Sunspots are about 3,000 °F cooler
- Sunspots are about 3,000 °F hotter
What causes sunspots, by Kira's reading (NOAA)?
- Comets hitting the Sun
- Intense magnetic fields pushing up from inside
- Hot spots where the surface is hottest and glows brightest
- Fires on the Sun's surface
Sunspot-number graph showing rises and falls over several decades. About how long is one solar cycle, by Jun's reading (NOAA)?
- There is no repeating pattern
- About 11 years
- About 11 days
- About 1 year
Solar Cycle 24 (NOAA)
Event Date began December 2008 peaked April 2014 ended December 2019 NOAA says Cycle 24 began in December 2008, peaked in April 2014 and ended in December 2019. About how long did it last, by Milo's math?
- 19 years
- 1 year
- 11 years
- 5.3 years, start to peak
Drawing of a green and red aurora above a dark horizon. What makes an aurora, by Noah's reading (NOAA)?
- Electrons hitting oxygen and nitrogen high up make them glow
- Lightning far over the horizon
- Moonlight shining through clouds
- Sunlight reflecting off polar ice
Side view of the atmosphere with a height scale in kilometers and an aurora drawn high up. About how high above the ground do auroras form, by Pia's reading (NOAA)?
- At ground level, on the ice
- In clouds about 1 to 2 km up
- Out near the Moon
- About 80 to 500 km up
NOAA G scale
Level Name G1 minor G2 moderate G3 strong G4 severe G5 extreme Which level on NOAA's geomagnetic storm scale is strongest, by Ren's reading?
- G3, the middle level
- Each G level is the same strength
- G1, since it comes first
- G5, extreme
Use this
not to scale
About how long does light from a solar flare take to reach Earth, by Tala's reading?
- About 1 year
- It stops at the Moon
- About 3 days, like a slow CME arriving later
- About 8 minutes, at the speed of light
About how long do the fastest Earth-directed CMEs take to arrive, by Zee's reading (NOAA)?
- About 15 to 18 hours
- About 8 minutes, like flare light
- About 11 years
- About 15 to 18 seconds