Sunspot​ ​Activity

(15​ ​pts.)

Sunspots​ ​activity​ ​is​ ​directly​ ​related​ ​to​ ​the​ ​frequency​ ​of​ ​major​ ​solar​ ​storms.​ ​ ​It​ ​is​ ​important​ ​to​ ​be​ ​able​ ​to​ ​know​ ​when​ ​these
major​ ​solar​ ​storms​ ​are​ ​likely​ ​to​ ​occur​ ​because​ ​the​ ​can​ ​cause​ ​electrical​ ​blackouts,​ ​communication​ ​blackouts,​ ​and​ ​satellite
problems​ ​here​ ​on​ ​earth​ ​(No​ ​one​ ​wants​ ​their​ ​Tivo​ ​messed​ ​with).​ ​ ​ ​This​ ​is​ ​referred​ ​to​ ​as​ ​space​ ​weather​ ​forecasting.​ ​ ​Using
historical​ ​sunspot​ ​activity​ ​data,​ ​you​ ​will​ ​try​ ​to​ ​find​ ​a​ ​pattern​ ​of​ ​activity​ ​for​ ​the​ ​number​ ​of​ ​sunspots​ ​that​ ​have​ ​been
observed​ ​since​ ​1900​ ​and​ ​then​ ​predict​ ​when​ ​the​ ​next​ ​maximum​ ​sunspot​ ​activity​ ​will​ ​occur.
Vocabulary:
Sunspot: a​ ​dark​ ​spot​ ​on​ ​the​ ​surface​ ​of​ ​the​ ​sun​ ​caused​ ​by​ ​the​ ​cooling​ ​of​ ​the​ ​sun’s
surface​ ​be​ ​very​ ​intense​ ​magnetic​ ​fields
Sunspot​ ​#: the​ ​number​ ​of​ ​sunspots​ ​on​ ​a​ ​daily​ ​averaged​ ​to​ ​a​ ​monthly​ ​number.​ ​ ​This
number​ ​can​ ​be​ ​averaged​ ​to​ ​get​ ​the​ ​yearly​ ​average​ ​number​ ​of​ ​sunspots
Sunspot​ ​cycle: Average​ ​length​ ​of​ ​time​ ​between​ ​maximum​ ​sunspot​ ​activities.
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/sunspotssolar-cycle
Procedure:
Go​ ​to​ ​the​ ​following​ ​address:​ ​https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/solar/ssndata.html
Find​ ​Data​:​ ​1700-present​ ​in​ ​x-y​ ​plot​ ​format
1. Highlight​ ​all​ ​the​ ​numbers​ ​by​ ​holding​ ​the​ ​mouse​ ​down​ ​and​ ​scrolling​ ​to​ ​the​ ​bottom
2. Choose​ ​EDIT​ ​and​ ​COPY
3. Open​ ​Excel
4. Click​ ​on​ ​the​ ​letter​ ​A​ ​and​ ​PASTE​ ​the​ ​data
5. Click​ ​on​ ​the​ ​DATA​ ​window​ ​and​ ​choose​ ​TEXT​ ​TO​ ​COLUMNS
6. Choose​ ​FIXED​ ​WIDTH,​ ​NEXT​ ​and​ ​FINISH.
7. Your​ ​data​ ​should​ ​be​ ​is​ ​two​ ​columns.
8. Highlight​ ​columns​ ​A​ ​and​ ​B
9. Choose​ ​INSERT​ ​CHART​ ​or​ ​choose​ ​the​ ​CHART​ ​WIZARD​ ​ICON.
10. Choose​ ​the​ ​XY​ ​Scatter​ ​Plot​​ ​and​ ​choose​ ​the​ ​one​ ​on​ ​the​ ​bottom​ ​right​.
11. Fill​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Title​ ​and​ ​the​ ​X​ ​and​ ​Y-axis​ ​as​ ​follows
a. The​ ​Title​ ​is​ ​Yearly​ ​Sunspot​ ​from​ ​1700-2013​;​ ​the​ ​X-axis​ ​is​ ​Year​​ ​and​ ​the​ ​Y-axis​ ​is​ ​Number​ ​of
Sunspots​.
12. Click​ ​on​ ​LEGEND​ ​and​ ​turn​ ​it​ ​off​ ​by​ ​clicking​ ​on​ ​the​ ​box​ ​marked​ ​SHOW​ ​LEGEND
13. Click​ ​on​ ​NEXT​ ​and​ ​choose​ ​As​ ​new​ ​sheet​​ ​and​ ​FINISH.
14. Click​ ​on​ ​the​ ​FORMAT​ ​window,​ ​choose​ ​FORMAT​ ​PLOT​ ​AREA
15. Under​ ​AREA,​ ​choose​ ​the​ ​color​ ​white.
16. right​ ​click​ ​on​ ​your​ ​x​ ​axis​ ​and​ ​choose​ ​format​ ​axis
17. change​ ​the​ ​scale​ ​of​ ​the​ ​major​ ​unit​ ​to​ ​2
18. change​ ​the​ ​alignment​ ​so​ ​the​ ​values​ ​are​ ​vertical
19. Click​ ​on​ ​the​ ​VIEW​ ​window​ ​and​ ​choose​ ​HEADER​ ​AND​ ​FOOTER
20. Choose​ ​CUSTOM​ ​HEADER​ ​and​ ​in​ ​the​ ​right​ ​box,​ ​type​ ​your​ ​name.

What​ ​to​ ​Hand​ ​in:

21. Copy​ ​of​ ​the​ ​graph​ ​within​ ​the​ ​final​ ​doc
22. Measure​ ​the​ ​number​ ​of​ ​years​ ​between​ ​each​ ​peak​ ​value​ ​(move​ ​your​ ​mouse​ ​to​ ​a​ ​peek​ ​and​ ​read​ ​the​ ​year
and​ ​number​ ​of​ ​sunspots)
23. Find​ ​the​ ​average​ ​number​ ​of​ ​years​ ​between​ ​the​ ​peaks
24. Forecast​ ​the​ ​year​ ​for​ ​the​ ​next​ ​maximum​​ ​sunspot​ ​activity​ ​will​ ​occur​ ​by​ ​adding​ ​the​ ​average​ ​number​ ​of
years​ ​to​ ​the​ ​graph​ ​(make​ ​sure​ ​it​ ​is​ ​in​ ​the​ ​future)
Average​ ​number​ ​of​ ​years​ ​between​ ​SunSpot​ ​Max:

Next​ ​Sunspot​ ​Max:

Sunspot Awesome Good Good Not​ ​good Don’t​ ​hand

rubric Enough Enough this​ ​in

15points 5 4 3 2 1
Graph All​ ​points All​ ​points All​ ​points Most​ ​points Less​ ​that
are​ ​graphed, are​ ​graphed, are​ ​graphed, are​ ​graphed half​ ​the
accurately accurately And the​ ​graph​ ​is points​ ​are
and​ ​clearly and graph​ ​is incorrectly graphed
and the​ ​graph​ ​is properly labeled
the​ ​graph​ ​is properly labeled And
properly labeled or ​ ​formatted
labeled And formatted
and ​ ​formatted or
formatted graph​ ​does
not​ ​reflect
data​ ​trends
Average There​ ​is​ ​a The​ ​average The​ ​average The​ ​average The​ ​average
cycle value​ ​for cycle​ ​is is​ ​ ​incorrect and​ ​next or​ ​the
each​ ​area correct but​ ​within​ ​2 max​ ​are Prediction​ ​is
between years incorrect​ ​but not​ ​present
cycles​ ​label within​ ​5
on​ ​the​ ​graph years
and
the​ ​average
is​ ​correct

Prediction Prediction​ ​is ​ ​next​ ​max​ ​is ​ ​next​ ​max​ ​is NA Prediction​ ​is
correct​ ​for incorrect​ ​but incorrect​ ​but attempted
the​ ​next​ ​max within​ ​1 within​ ​2
sunspot years years