400th Anniversary of First Scientific Publication on Sunspots
Posted by Warren Wong on Saturday, April 2, 2011
Under: sunspot observations
The first recorded observations of sunspots are recorded in the texts of Chinese astronomers of thousands of years ago and we know England's Thomas Harriot mentions them in his recordings during December of the year 1610. This year marks the 400th anniversary of this first observation and to mark this occasion on the calendar of the human journey to the beginning of space and time we'll talk a little about the history of sunspot observations and observers.
The first recorded scientific publication on the subject of sunspots, titled De Maculis in Sole observatis et Apparente earum cum Sole Conversione Narratio (Narration on Spots Observed on the Sun and their Apparent Rotation with the Sun), was published by Johannes Fabricius in June 1611. Johannes had observed sunspots using the newly invented telescope that appeared during his time a few months earlier and his observations opened the door on four centuries of sunspot study and research that has shown us that our Sun goes through an eleven year sunspot cycle.
During the time of Johannes Fabricius scientists and people believed the Sun was unmovable, unchanging, the perfect celestial body, but this young man and astronomers like Galileo used their perception and intelligence to show that sunspots in fact travel around the surface of the Sun and the Sun actually rotates.
Breaking through thousands of years of teaching and belief using intense scientific method and trial and error experimentation Johannes Fabricius tracked sunspots across the surface of the Sun during sunset and sunrise using a simple technique that can still be used today. Johannes Fabricius allowed the sun's rays to enter a dark room through a pin hole opening and then observed sunspots on a sheet of paper. This simple technique is required because observing the Sun directly using a telescope, even a primitive one, is bad for your eye sight and could cause permanent damage and blindness.
Astronomers of the 1800s were clearly focused on sunspots and trying to delve deeper into the mysteries surrounding these dark areas observed on the Sun. Today were know these dark areas are temporary areas in the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as cooler dark spots compared to the hotter regions in the photosphere surrounding them. Expanding and contracting as they dance across the surface of the Sun at hundreds of meters per second, sunspots can be as large as 80,000 kilometers in diameter, which means they're large enough to view from Earth without the help of a telescope. We also know sunspot activity goes through an 11-year cycle of rising and falling, but at present we haven't figured out exactly why?
Astronomers on the human journey to the beginning of space and time started watching sunspot activity on a daily basis at the Zurich Observatory back in 1849. Recording the number and distribution of sunspots on the surface of the Sun in an effort to help map the observed sunspot cycle of the Sun and understand more about the reasons for and mechanisms behind sunspots. Daily observations of sunspots has also been recorded by the Royal Greenwich Observatory since 1874, and these observations contain information concerning the sizes and positions of sunspots as well. Astronomers believe the sunspot data collected since this time shows that sunspots are not randomly distributed, but are in fact mainly found in two latitude bands on either side of the equator of the Sun. Forming at mid-latitudes on the Sun at first, these bands widen and then move toward the Sun's equator as each 11-year cycle progresses.
The human journey to the beginning of space and time continues to study sunspot activity and all aspects of the Sun in an effort to understand more about the universe we live in on a daily basis. Join us again, another time, as we will continue to board our spaceship to the beginning of space and time on a nightly basis and travel to the reaches of the human universe in search of answers to questions we all hear.
The first recorded scientific publication on the subject of sunspots, titled De Maculis in Sole observatis et Apparente earum cum Sole Conversione Narratio (Narration on Spots Observed on the Sun and their Apparent Rotation with the Sun), was published by Johannes Fabricius in June 1611. Johannes had observed sunspots using the newly invented telescope that appeared during his time a few months earlier and his observations opened the door on four centuries of sunspot study and research that has shown us that our Sun goes through an eleven year sunspot cycle.
During the time of Johannes Fabricius scientists and people believed the Sun was unmovable, unchanging, the perfect celestial body, but this young man and astronomers like Galileo used their perception and intelligence to show that sunspots in fact travel around the surface of the Sun and the Sun actually rotates.
Breaking through thousands of years of teaching and belief using intense scientific method and trial and error experimentation Johannes Fabricius tracked sunspots across the surface of the Sun during sunset and sunrise using a simple technique that can still be used today. Johannes Fabricius allowed the sun's rays to enter a dark room through a pin hole opening and then observed sunspots on a sheet of paper. This simple technique is required because observing the Sun directly using a telescope, even a primitive one, is bad for your eye sight and could cause permanent damage and blindness.
Astronomers of the 1800s were clearly focused on sunspots and trying to delve deeper into the mysteries surrounding these dark areas observed on the Sun. Today were know these dark areas are temporary areas in the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as cooler dark spots compared to the hotter regions in the photosphere surrounding them. Expanding and contracting as they dance across the surface of the Sun at hundreds of meters per second, sunspots can be as large as 80,000 kilometers in diameter, which means they're large enough to view from Earth without the help of a telescope. We also know sunspot activity goes through an 11-year cycle of rising and falling, but at present we haven't figured out exactly why?
Astronomers on the human journey to the beginning of space and time started watching sunspot activity on a daily basis at the Zurich Observatory back in 1849. Recording the number and distribution of sunspots on the surface of the Sun in an effort to help map the observed sunspot cycle of the Sun and understand more about the reasons for and mechanisms behind sunspots. Daily observations of sunspots has also been recorded by the Royal Greenwich Observatory since 1874, and these observations contain information concerning the sizes and positions of sunspots as well. Astronomers believe the sunspot data collected since this time shows that sunspots are not randomly distributed, but are in fact mainly found in two latitude bands on either side of the equator of the Sun. Forming at mid-latitudes on the Sun at first, these bands widen and then move toward the Sun's equator as each 11-year cycle progresses.
The human journey to the beginning of space and time continues to study sunspot activity and all aspects of the Sun in an effort to understand more about the universe we live in on a daily basis. Join us again, another time, as we will continue to board our spaceship to the beginning of space and time on a nightly basis and travel to the reaches of the human universe in search of answers to questions we all hear.
In : sunspot observations