What exactly is a sunspot?

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 on skin?

Age spots are small, flat dark areas on the skin. They vary in size and usually appear on areas exposed to the sun, such as the face, hands, shoulders and arms. Age spots are also called sunspots, liver spots and solar lentigines.

How do sun spots look?

These are flat areas of skin discoloration that can be tan or varying shades of brown. They appear on the parts of your body that get the most sun exposure, such as your face, shoulders, back, and the backs of your hands.

Are sun spots hot or cold?

Sunspots are dark, planet-sized regions that appear on the “surface” of the Sun. Sunspots are “dark” because they are colder than the areas around them. A large sunspot might have a temperature of about 4,000 K (about 3,700 C or 6,700 F).

Can sunspots harm us?

The most violent events we can observe on the Sun are the huge explosions called solar flares. These occur in the same regions of the Sun as sunspots, but even so, sunspots, solar flares and all the other activity on the Sun can’t harm us directly.

What were the dark spots on the Sun?

Dark spots on the Sun are created by the movement of gases , a new study in the journal Science reports. Sunspots are dark regions of the sun that appear black because they are cooler than the rest of the sun’s visible surface.

What are dark spots seen on the Sun are called?

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 have temperatures of about 3,800 degrees K. They look dark only in comparison with the brighter and hotter regions of the photosphere around them.