Sunspots for Kids | What is a Sunspot? - Sun Facts for Kids - Ulster Scots for Kids | Ulster Scots

Foreigner, let me introduce myself. I'm Bartholomew, the bookworm. You're probably wondering

what

a worm is doing on the moon in the modern Creator. Well, I've come here to look at

sunspot

s 100 years after Annie Modern first discovered them. Who is Annie Monder Let? Meet the Ulster Scots astronomer and mathematician who discovered

sunspot

s and after whom the Mondo Critter was named. Let's go back to the year 1868 in the months of Strabane. County Tyrone. The religion of Northern Ireland was very important in the Russell household. Annie's father was the minister of the Second Presbyterian Church of Strabane, her mother's father had also previously been a minister of the same church.

The Presbyterian Church was established in Ulster by Scottish settlers in the early 17th century. It was at this time that her mother Dills' family arrived in County Donegal from Scotland. Not only was Annie's family religious, Annie's half-brother was also an astronomer. Annie and her siblings were all highly educated. In the late 1880s, it was very rare for girls to have a high educational level in subjects other than domestic studies and secretarial work, but the Russell girls were the exception to this rule in 1886 Annie won a prize that allowed him to sit for Gurton College's open entry scholarship exam.

Her excellent results earned her a three-year scholarship to study at Gurton College Cambridge. Annie graduated in 1889 and ranked as the best mathematician at Curtin in her year, Annie was the first woman in Ireland to receive this degree. Annie was clearly a smart box, although Annie did incredibly well and passed all of her university exams, restrictions during the time did not allow her to receive the bachelor's degree she should have obtained after university Annie spent a year as a mathematics teacher at the Jersey Girls' High School. However, Annie didn't like this job and she was always looking for more.

Her good friend, the astronomer Alice Everett, told her about a vacancy at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1891 and soon after Ani secured a position as a computer scientist as part of her job. Annie worked in the solar department and her responsibilities included marking and developing photographs of the Sun and examining it in great detail in 1892. Annie was nominated for a scholarship. of the Royal Astronomical Society Unfortunately, Annie did not receive enough votes and was rejected due to her gender, unlike the Royal Astronomical Society, the British Astronomical Association welcomed women. Now you know where Annie grew up, how smart she was and how resilient she was, but that's not all as we're getting a little closer to Annie's famous discovery.

Meet Edward Walter Monder by last name can probably guess that Edward played a role. important in Annie's life during Annie's time at Greenwich Observatory Edward was head of the Department of Photography and Spectroscopy, meaning that he was also her boss four years after they first worked together. Annie and Edward married in 1895. Oh how nice during this time, civil service laws meant that married women could not work in the public service, this meant that Annie had to leave the job she loved. At the observatory, this law did not prevent him from pursuing her interest in astronomy. Edward and Annie worked together and undertook a total of five expeditions from 1896 to 1905.

They traveled to Finland, India, Algeria, Mauritius and Canada to view solar eclipses. Annie took solar photos. On every clear day, just to take note of where the sunspots were, she even designed her own camera to take stunning photographs of the Sun, including the first photograph of streamers of the Sun's outer layer. How cool is it that during this time women published their works under a false name, a pseudonym or were otherwise named co-authors with their husbands, this meant that Annie's photographs were not published as her own, so how Did Ani Monder discover any answers and

what

are they?

Let's check the science. Sunspots are dark and cool. Spots that appear on the Sun's surface are caused by intense magnetic activity in the Sun's atmosphere. Some spots are usually found in pairs with one sunspot in the Sun's northern hemisphere and another in the southern hemisphere. Some spots can sometimes be very large. As large as Earth, they usually last a few days or weeks before disappearing sunspots can affect Earth in several ways. First, they can cause auroras, which are beautiful lights that appear in the sky at high latitudes. Some spots can also cause solar storms which can disrupt radio communications and GPS signals on Earth in general Some spots are natural and fascinating part of the solar cycle In 1904 the Monders created a graph showing the movement of sunspots during the 11-year activity cycle of the sun.

This graph is known as a butterfly diagram. Because it looked like flying butterflies, Annie and Edward photographed the Sun and mapped the positions of sunspots over time, this proved Annie's theory that there was a link between the number of sunspots and the Earth's climate. . This low solar activity is now known as the modern minimum. I think it was clear to her from a very young age that Annie Monder was destined for great things. She finally got the recognition she deserved in 1916. She finally became a member of the Royal Society. 24 years after being rejected, in 2018, the Royal Greenwich Observatory installed a new telescope called Annie.

Monder astrographic telescope or the Amat to remember all the great work of her Annie's incredible work is still used today by scientists 100 years later. Can you imagine if something you discover today is still being analyzed 100 years in the future now that you know about Annie's incredible discovery? Why not share it with your friends and family to spread her legacy even further? I hope you enjoyed Annie's story, see you next time abroad.