Use these questions to test your understanding. If you get them wrong, you will be linked back to the relevant part of the notes.
Be sure you study them thoroughly (don't just get a quick fix for your mistake) so your overall understanding is improved.
1. The granules visible on the Sun's surface are evidence of
a. large amounts of iron b. magnetic storms c. convection d. gas escaping into space
e. electromagnetic radiation from the Sun
2. The Sun's corona has a temperature of more than a million degrees. What wavelength regime would be most useful for studying the corona?
a. visible light b. radio waves c. infrared light d. x-rays e. long wavelengths
3. The term "solar cycle" refers to
a. periodic changes in the Sun's brightness b. the 22 year pattern in sunspots and magnetic field direction
c. a solar-powered bicycle d. the length of time it takes the Sun to orbit the center of the Milky Way
4. The major constituents of the Sun are
a. iron and nickel b. hydrogen and helium c. oxygen and carbon d. water and salt e. neon and krypton gas
5. The danger to astronauts from solar flares and coronal mass ejections is greatest when
a. Sun is at a sunspot maximum b. the magnetic field is least tangled
6. The underlying cause of the solar cycle is
a. winding up of the sun's magnetic field due to differential rotation
b. oscillations in the center of the sun
c. changes in the temperature of the sun
d. the sunspots appear at different latitudes on the sun
e. changes in the rate of coronal mass ejections
7. Sunspots are
a. regions where strong absorption lines reduce the output of the sun
b. regions where a strong magnetic dipole interferes with the outward transport of energy
c. bodies above the surface of the sun that block some of its light