![]() ![]() ![]() The sunspots are large concentrations of strong magnetic field. James McAteer is a Professor of Astronomy at New Mexico State University and Director of the Sunspot Solar Observatory. We asked Dr James McAteer a few commonly asked questions about sunspots. According to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), if you could cut out a standard sunspot from the sun and place it in the night sky, it would appear as bright as a full moon. The strong magnetic field inhibits the influx of hot, new gas from the sun's interior, causing sunspots to be cooler and appear darker than their surroundings, relatively speaking. The magnetic field in active sunspot regions can be some 2,500 times stronger than Earth's, according to the NWS. A group of sunspots is known as an active region. This disturbance in the sun's magnetic field forms pores that can grow and join together to form larger pores, or proto-spots, that eventually become sunspots. Eventually, the magnetic fields "snap," rise and break the surface. Sunspots are, on average, about the same size as Earth, though they can vary from hundreds to tens of thousands of miles across, according to Cool Cosmos.Īs the sun rotates, these magnetic loop "rubber bands" get more wound up (both tighter and more complicated). ![]()
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