Our Sun has spots!
These spots appear dark in photographs like the one above, but in fact sunspots are quite bright - they are just dark compared
to the rest of the Sun. Sunspots
are about the size of the Earth and
frequently occur in groups, as shown above. Sunspots
occur when a concentrated portion of the Solar magnetic field
pokes through the surface. This field slows energy from entering
the sunspot
region, causing sunspots to appear cooler, darker, and lower than
the surrounding surface. Sunspots
typically last about a month or two before dissipating. The number
of sunspots
is always changing, generally going from a maximum to a minimum about every 5 ½ years.
In fact, the Sun
just passed a minimum last year. The Sun and sunspots should never be looked at directly.
