Lionel Richie may well have danced on the ceiling but watching sunspots on the ceiling is easier and far more exciting.
Electric currents in the Sun generate magnetic fields. Sunspots are temporary disturbances in the Sun’s surface and are the most visible manifestation of the solar magnetic field. They appear dark because temperatures are considerably lower than in surrounding areas. Sunspots occur where the magnetic field lines emerge from the inside of the Sun to form expanding loops above its surface.
There have been some fairly big sunspots developing recently and it looked like a good thing to try and see a bit closer. Using a telescope on the Sun is a tricky thing (see warning below.) We used a rather weak telescope and set it up to act a bit like a camera obscura. The light coming from the telescope would be too bright to look directly – even more so than just looking at the Sun, but you can project it up onto the ceiling or a large sheet of white paper.
Here’s what we saw:
The dark spots are what we’re interested in. To give you some scale, the largest of the four main spots (second from right) is about the size of the Earth.
If you are interested in knowing more about the set-up, let us know.
Warning
Even looking directly at the Sun is extremely dangerous and can cause permanent eye damage and blindness. It is a really bad idea to point any optical equipment at the Sun – don’t do it.