The Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club (PAAC) organised a programme to watch the sunspots at the Poornaprajna College campus here on Tuesday.
Students saw the sunspots through a refraction telescope of four inches with an aluminium filter in front the Department of Physics at the college campus.
Explaining the importance of sunspots, A.P. Bhat, Coordinator of PAAC and Head of the Department of Physics, Poornaprajna College, said that on an average one could see a maximum of 14 sunspots in a month, while the minimum could be as low as four to five sunspots.
“This time, we are seeing one of the powerful sunspots in April. The diameter of the sunspot ranges from 18 kilometres to 1,600 kilometres. The low temperature in a sunspot ranges from 3,000 Kelvin to 4,500 Kelvin,” said Prof. Bhat. For the students, watching the sunspots over the telescope was an experience to treasure.
Adithya H.N., a final year B.Sc. student, said that experience of watching a sunspot was indescribable.
“I have been watching the sunspots since April 15. Though I have been watching sunspots for the last three years, this time it is big and clear than the previous occasions,” he said.
Another student B. Ananthamurthy of the same class, said that he had never seen such a big sunspot. “It is a thrilling experience for all the sky gazers,” he said.
The PAAC, which was founded in 2004, is an active organisation holding sky-watch programmes not just for the students of the college but also the general public.
The club has held about 30 such programmes in various schools in and around Udupi this year to generate interest in astronomy among school students.
The event was organised by the Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club
