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Last Post 10/16/2007 5:11 AM by Dawn Myers

sunspots

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10/15/2007 6:09 PM
Cheryl S How do scientists, or scientific instruments measure magnetic fields assocaited with sunspots? thank you.

Dawn Myers

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10/16/2007 5:11 AM
This is a very good question. Magnetic forces change the direction of motion of moving charged particles like electrons. Because of this, electrons that orbit around a nucleus in one direction will have more energy than electrons that orbit about the nucleus in the opposite direction. This allows us to remotely measure the Sun's magnetic field by observing the difference in the energy of the light emitted as these electrons jump from orbit to orbit.