Sun Spotting

Jul 08, 2010

Fred Barrett shares his passion for astronomy with Rebecca Rouleau

On July 3, anyone who has ever wanted to know what the sun actually looks like was offered a rare chance to take a close-up look at our amazing star in perfect safety during the annual “Pie in the Sky” event in Maberly, when amateur astronomer Fred Barrett set up a special telescope at the fairgrounds and explained to those curious for a peek at just what they were seeing.

Seen through the eyepiece of Fred's telescope, an eight-inch Celestron reflector type with a two-inch eyepiece that magnifies 50 times, the sun appeared as a glowing, perfectly circular white disc surrounded by the darkness of outer space. Most unusual was what appeared to be one single small black blemish on its surface. Fred explained, “That is a sun spot, a slightly cooler part of the surface of the sun which, because it is cooler, looks dark.”

To give one an idea of the ratio - if the sun were the size of a frisbee, the spot would be a peppercorn, but in actuality would be roughly the size of the planet Earth.

Barrett explained the cause and significance of the spot. “They are caused by magnetic fields that are coming out or going back into the sun and scientists today worry that there are not as many sun spots now as there should normally be… Usually there is an 11-year cycle when sun spots become more common and that hasn't happened and scientists don't know why.”

Earlier in the morning until just before noon, gazers also had a chance to view the moon. Viewers were awe-struck to see such fantastic details as craters and rays of material ejected from meteors that exploded millions of years ago.

Fred Barrett has been studying astronomy for 15 years. He is an engineer by trade and worked at Carleton University in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He continues to do research for professors there. Fred enjoys tinkering in the field of astronomy, and has built his own telescopes, observatory and a CCD camera to photograph the night skies. He keeps a close eye on what is happening up high in our skies and regularly shares his interest in astronomy in his monthly column in the News, “What's up in the Sky”.