Sunspot Viewing at Big Valley High School

Big Valley High School, May 12 2005
Copyright BigValleyNews.net 2005

Large sunspots were reported this week on Spaceweather.com, the internet website which reports solar activity.  Although the sunspots have been active and visible for some time, the weather became good enough to view the spots today and a viewing apparatus was setup outside Dan Alcorn's science classes.

Although sunspots are fairly common, very few people have seen them because they are difficult to see without proper equipment.  Viewing the sun with a telescope or binoculars is DANGEROUS and will result in eye damage unless done properly.

The science teacher at Big Valley High School, Dan Alcorn,  invited a neighbor, who had equipment for viewing the sunspots, to the high school where students were lectured on the sun, solar storms, sunspots and their effect on the earth.  Mr. Alcorn's neighbor, Rich Patak, who is the editor of BigValleyNews.net spent the morning at the high school educating the students about the sun and showing real views of the sun which were projected on a small screen by a pair of  binoculars.  They also were introduced to Spaceweather.com which showed pictures of the sun taken by professional astronomers and compared what they saw on the internet with real live views.