Summary Of NOVA: Secrets Of The Sun
NOVA: Secrets of the Sun
1. Solar storms take place in two stages. The first stage is the solar flare which “releases an outburst of x-rays.” (NOVA) The second stage is the coronal mass ejection, with is a “wave of billions of tons of electrically charged particles.” (NOVA)
2. Auroras can be very bright. In fact, in 1859 there were reports that miners in Colorado were awaken by an aurora in the middle of the night. Believing that dawn had arrived, they went to work early.
3. During the 1960’s, astronomers discovered that the Sun’s surface appears to be “vibrating like ripples on a pound.” (NOVA) These ripples turned out to be sound waves. In this documentary, Dean Pennell comparers the Sun’s vibrations to a pipe organ. (NOVA)
4. The Sun is reported to have 10 million …show more content…
About every eleven years, the Sun’s magnetic poles reverse themselves.
15. Two things determine the strength of a solar storm, the strength of the C.M.E’s magnetic field and the angle in which it interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.
NOVA: Secrets of the Sun, directed by Duncan Coop, is an interesting documentary that discusses some of the Sun’s features and solar storms. One of the things that the program does well is provide simple analogies to illustrate the concepts of the Sun’s zones and behavior. This program also helps elaborate and expand the information provided by Timothy F. Slater and Roger A. Freedman, the authors of Investigating Astronomy: A Conceptual View of the Universe in the chapter “Probing the Dynamic Sun”.
I found two flaws of this program as related to this class. First, the commentator focus their discussion on the Sun’s zones rather than layers of the atmosphere. Perhaps the only negative thing about the documentary is that was initially released five years ago, and I wasn’t sure how recent of a video about the Sun I needed to use for this assignment. Age notwithstanding, I would recommend this documentary for anyone interested in learning about the
1. Solar storms take place in two stages. The first stage is the solar flare which “releases an outburst of x-rays.” (NOVA) The second stage is the coronal mass ejection, with is a “wave of billions of tons of electrically charged particles.” (NOVA)
2. Auroras can be very bright. In fact, in 1859 there were reports that miners in Colorado were awaken by an aurora in the middle of the night. Believing that dawn had arrived, they went to work early.
3. During the 1960’s, astronomers discovered that the Sun’s surface appears to be “vibrating like ripples on a pound.” (NOVA) These ripples turned out to be sound waves. In this documentary, Dean Pennell comparers the Sun’s vibrations to a pipe organ. (NOVA)
4. The Sun is reported to have 10 million …show more content…
About every eleven years, the Sun’s magnetic poles reverse themselves.
15. Two things determine the strength of a solar storm, the strength of the C.M.E’s magnetic field and the angle in which it interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.
NOVA: Secrets of the Sun, directed by Duncan Coop, is an interesting documentary that discusses some of the Sun’s features and solar storms. One of the things that the program does well is provide simple analogies to illustrate the concepts of the Sun’s zones and behavior. This program also helps elaborate and expand the information provided by Timothy F. Slater and Roger A. Freedman, the authors of Investigating Astronomy: A Conceptual View of the Universe in the chapter “Probing the Dynamic Sun”.
I found two flaws of this program as related to this class. First, the commentator focus their discussion on the Sun’s zones rather than layers of the atmosphere. Perhaps the only negative thing about the documentary is that was initially released five years ago, and I wasn’t sure how recent of a video about the Sun I needed to use for this assignment. Age notwithstanding, I would recommend this documentary for anyone interested in learning about the