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S O L A R B I N O C U L A R S
Sunspots
Sunspots are dark spots that appear on the photosphere, or visible "surface" of the Sun.
They usually have a dark core, called the umbra, surrounded by a lighter border, called
the penumbra. They form when large disturbances in the Sun's magnetic field cool
portions of the photosphere. Sunspots are relatively cool, being only 6,000°F (3,300°C)
compared to the normal 10,000°F (5,500°C) of the rest of the photosphere. Although
these spots appear to be almost black, they are actually quite bright. If it were possible
to remove a sunspot from the Sun and put it in the night sky, it would shine brighter
than the Full Moon. They only appears to be "dark" when compared to the rest of the
photosphere.
Sunspots can be big. Very big. They can range in size from 10 to 100,000 miles (16
to 160,000 km) in diameter. To put that into perspective, the Earth is only 8,000 miles
(12,800 km) in diameter! Compare sunspot sizes to the relative size of the Earth in the
image on the next page to better grasp the immense size of the Sun and share that
WOW factor with neighbors, friends, and family.
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