Sun  ID: 2644

The Solar 'Constant' - Faculae vs. Sunspots

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on January 2, 2003
There is a newer version of this story located here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4892
Three views of the Sun showing different levels of solar activity. The color table has been altered to enhance the appearance of the faculae (white regions) which are hotter than sunspots (red-black regions) and whose greater total area contribute to increasing the solar flux reaching the Earth.
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Low solar activity - October 28, 1998
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Moderate solar activity - April 27, 2002
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High solar activity - March 28, 2001
 

Newer Version

Faculae and Sunspots at Solar Maximum and Solar Minimum

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
William R. Ochs (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Robert F. Cahalan (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Gary Rottman (University of Colorado/LASP): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. Source data courtesy of HAO & NSO PSPT project team. HAO is a division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research which is supported by the National Science Foundation.Special thanks to Vanessa George (University of Colorado/LASP) and Randy Meisner(Michigan State University)

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2644

Mission:
Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE)

Data Used:
PSPT/CaIIK camera
2002-04-27T18:03:48.864Z, 2001-03-28T18:03:20.113Z, 1998-10-28T19:33:41.000Z
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SORCE
The SORCE mission (launched January 23, 2003) will study the variability of the Sun and its impact on the Earth"s Climate.
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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
SORCE Prelaunch

Keywords:
SVS >> Faculae
SVS >> Solar Cycle
DLESE >> Space science
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Sunspots
NASA Science >> Sun

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0