Sunspots, the solar cycle and space weather

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   Drawing of the Sun's surface with dark sunspots. Why do sunspots look dark, by Ari's reading (NOAA)?

   • They are cooler than the surface around them
   • They are hotter and give off less light
   • They are shadows cast by planets
   • They are holes showing a cold core

2. 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)

3. 2.

   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?

   • Sunspots are about 17,000 °F
   • Sunspots are about 3,000 °F hotter
   • Sunspots are about 3,000 °F cooler
   • Both are the same temperature
4. 3.

   What causes sunspots, by Kira's reading (NOAA)?

   • Fires on the Sun's surface
   • Hot spots where the surface is hottest and glows brightest
   • Intense magnetic fields pushing up from inside
   • Comets hitting the Sun
5. 4.

   Sunspot-number graph showing rises and falls over several decades. About how long is one solar cycle, by Jun's reading (NOAA)?

   • About 11 days
   • About 1 year
   • About 11 years
   • There is no repeating pattern

6. Yearly sunspot number (model data shaped like Cycle 24)

   Year	Sunspot number
   2009	3
   2011	80
   2014	115
   2017	22
   2019	4

7. 5.

   When is solar maximum in this cycle, by Luz's reading?

   • 2017
   • 2009, at the start
   • 2019, with the fewest
   • 2014, with the most sunspots
8. 6.

   Drawing of a green and red aurora above a dark horizon. What makes an aurora, by Noah's reading (NOAA)?

   • Moonlight shining through clouds
   • Electrons hitting oxygen and nitrogen high up make them glow
   • Sunlight reflecting off polar ice
   • Lightning far over the horizon
9. 7.

   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)?

   • About 80 to 500 km up
   • At ground level, on the ice
   • Out near the Moon
   • In clouds about 1 to 2 km up

10. Use this

    not to scale

11. 8.

    About how long does light from a solar flare take to reach Earth, by Tala's reading?

    • About 8 minutes, at the speed of light
    • About 1 year
    • About 3 days, like a slow CME arriving later
    • It stops at the Moon
12. 9.

    About how long do the fastest Earth-directed CMEs take to arrive, by Zee's reading (NOAA)?

    • About 15 to 18 seconds
    • About 8 minutes, like flare light
    • About 15 to 18 hours
    • About 11 years
13. 10.

    Map of the United States with the G1 aurora line across northern Michigan and Maine. A G1 storm is forecast tonight. Where are auroras likely to be seen, by Esme's reading (NOAA)?

    • As far south as Florida
    • Across the whole country
    • At high latitudes, such as northern Maine
    • Nowhere; auroras need daylight