Thursday, August 04, 2011

Sunspots!

This morning, I read this article:

Strong Solar Activity / Spotted Sunsets

And then all day we were overcast.  Until about 10 minutes ago.

Now as a kid I used to always play with a magnifying glass.  I burned ants and sow bugs, but I also burned paper and wood.  I loved being out in the summer because it was right over head, but in the evening I could watch the sun’s rays travel up the wall.

One of the other things I noticed was the way I could recreate the image of the sun.  And I knew to never look into a telescope or binoculars with the naked eye.

Tonight, I recreated the image of the sun on a piece of white comic book backing board using a pair of binoculars.  Jennifer held the board, and I focused the image.  We were able to clearly see sunspot set 1263 and faintly see 1261.

We were so excited we didn’t think of taking a picture, but the sun was only out for maybe 5 minutes as it passed below the clouds, and then passed behind the Marin hills.

I love science.

2 comments:

Janet A said...

Your were dangerous with your magnifying glass. As dry as CA was when we moved here, years of drought, I was sure you would burn the neighborhood down.

Schadwen said...

That's why dad gave me that big block of wood. I could hit rocks with a hammer on it, I could pop caps with a hammer on it, and I could burn letters into it with the magnifying glass.