Sunspots and Aurora - Last Chance Saloon
August 2015
Our August meeting in the Wairarapa included an extremely inspiring presentation from Ian Cooper about sunspots, the sunspot cycle, the solar wind and aurora. Specifically recent observations of Aurora Australis.
Ian showed us how the sunspot cycle has been tracked since the early 1700s, its relationship to other events such as mini ice ages and the recent declining trend in sunspot activities.
We learned about various websites for predicting auroras and how their strength is measured using the Planetary K Index. Throughout the presentation Ian wowed the audience with amazing pictures of aurora, many of which he took himself.
Below is Ian's short summary of the information covered.
Hint: Right click on the right-hand icon below the page image scroll-bar to open the document in a new tab.
August 2015
Our August meeting in the Wairarapa included an extremely inspiring presentation from Ian Cooper about sunspots, the sunspot cycle, the solar wind and aurora. Specifically recent observations of Aurora Australis.
Ian showed us how the sunspot cycle has been tracked since the early 1700s, its relationship to other events such as mini ice ages and the recent declining trend in sunspot activities.
We learned about various websites for predicting auroras and how their strength is measured using the Planetary K Index. Throughout the presentation Ian wowed the audience with amazing pictures of aurora, many of which he took himself.
Below is Ian's short summary of the information covered.
Hint: Right click on the right-hand icon below the page image scroll-bar to open the document in a new tab.