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Sunspots are caused by disturbances in the Sun’s magnetic field welling up to the photosphere, the Sun’s visible “surface”. The powerful magnetic fields in the vicinity of sunspots produce active regions on the Sun, which in turn frequently spawn disturbances such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
The best way to think about the very complicated process of sunspot formation is to think of magnetic “ropes” breaking through the visible surface (photosphere) of the Sun. Where the rope comes up from the solar surface is one sunspot and where the rope plunges into photosphere is another sunspot.
Why is the magnetism of sunspots important?
The magnetic field prevents the flow of energy from inside the sun to the outside, and the sunspot cools as the energy shines into space.
Do sunspots have a stronger magnetic field?
Magnetic field strengths within sunspots range from 1,000 to 4,000 Gauss, and are thousands of times more intense than Earth’s average surface field strength of about 0.5 Gauss. The fields within sunspots are also much stronger than the Sun’s global average field, which is around 1 Gauss.
Where do sunspots occur on the Sun?
Sunspots are darker, cooler areas on the surface of the sun in a region called the photosphere. The photosphere has a temperature of 5,800 degrees Kelvin.
Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun. They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun’s surface. Solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy caused by tangling, crossing or reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots.
How do sunspots affect Earth’s magnetic field?
If sunspots are active, more solar flares will result creating an increase in geomagnetic storm activity for Earth. Therefore during sunspot maximums, the Earth will see an increase in the Northern and Southern Lights and a possible disruption in radio transmissions and power grids.
What are solar sunspots?
Sunspots are dark areas that become apparent at the Sun’s photosphere as a result of intense magnetic flux pushing up from further within the solar interior. This causes cooler (7000 F), less dense and darker areas at the heart of these magnetic fields than in the surrounding photosphere (10,000 F) – seen as sunspots.
What exactly is a sunspot?
A sunspot is simply a region on the surface of the sun—called the photosphere—that is temporarily cool and dark compared to surrounding regions. Sunspots expand and contract as they move across the surface of the sun and can be as large as 80, 000 km in diameter.
What are sunspots geography?
Sunspots are areas where the magnetic field is about 2,500 times stronger than Earth’s, much higher than anywhere else on the Sun. Because of the strong magnetic field, the magnetic pressure increases while the surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases.