Using JHelioviewer
Open and explore JHelioviewer. Spend a few minutes trying different operations and
uncovering all the features JHelioviewer can do – truly explore. Then answer:
1.
How any colors are available to include in “layers”?
2.
Which colors seem to represent features closer to the surface of the Sun?
3.
What is the naming system used for various colors?
4.
Which colors seem to represent more energetic processes?
Refresh your knowledge of the EMR spectrum:
http://missionscience.nasa.gov/nasascience/ems_full_video.html
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/waves_particles/index.html
Remember, what we see is determined by which wavelength we are interested in using.
Check out http://mwmw.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/mwmw_11a.pdf
5.
6.
Briefly describe (or sketch) regions in the Milky Way galaxy where very
energetic photons originate.
What must happen (at the atomic level) for light to be emitted?
Refresh your knowledge of the structure of the sun at
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Curric_7-12/Chapter_2.pdf page 2
Using JHelioviewer, target a small region of the Sun and use a filter that selects for a
small range of wavelengths. The filters not only select specific wavelength ranges, but
these also represent certain ranges of physical properties. The filters used at SDO (Solar
Dynamics Observatory target different parts of the Sun’s atmosphere. Open this table at
http://aia.lmsal.com/public/instrument.htm
7.
8.
What elements/ions are associated with low temperature?
What elements/ions are associated with high temperatures?
Think back to our work with the EMR. Use http://montessorimuddle.org/tag/atoms/ and
http://www.physast.uga.edu/~rls/astro1020/ch4/ovhd.html to help answer this:
9.
Can hydrogen atoms emit every color of the rainbow? Use 4 or more
sentences in your answer.
Open http://aia.lmsal.com/public/instrument.htm and look at the AIA (Atmospheric
Imaging Assembly)wavelength bands.
10.
Why do we use iron instead of nitrogen or hydrogen to study the high
temperature coronal regions in the atmosphere of the Sun?
JHelioviewer allows data from SDO and SOHO (Solar Heliospheric Observatory).
SOHO data goes back several years. Use this to track sun spot activity over the last 15
years.
11.
Describe the measurements you make and clearly indicate the
conclusions you reach. The vocabulary you should include:
months, prominences, height of prominences, size of corona.
Indicate your conclusions by writing a summary/draw your
graph(s) on another sheet of paper/graph paper.
Final activity: Create a movie of images that are in order of photon energy. Here are
some guidelines
 Use the AIA wavelengths of the SDO bands table. Are the highest temperatures
being imaged by the highest energy photon light? Keep in mind that most of
these bands are at UV or higher.
 Create a short movie that incorporates 2 – 3 layers that represent different regions
of the Sun’s atmosphere.
 Write a few sentences about which color represents the lower temperature and
higher temperature regions (for example: “For the solar flare video at 131A and 171A, the
yellow color represents the flaring region, the green represents where 131A and 171A are both
detected and the blue regions represent the quieter regions without much flare activity.”)


Here are some additional resources that may inform your work: X-ray and
radio/microwave images of the Sun and compare features observed at these
wavelengths.
o Nobeyama Radion Observatory maintains a radioheliograph for 1.8 cm
and 0.88 cm wavelengths: http://solar.nro.nao.ac.jp/
o A daily image of the X-ray wavelengths can be found at Hinode X-ray
telescope: http://umbra.nasacom.nasa.gov/images/
Save you movie and description onto your desktop (then onto my flash drive).