| Term: | sunspot |
| Definition: |
Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as dark spots compared to surrounding regions. Sunspots are caused by intense magnetic field, which inhibits convection, leaving their temperature (~ 3000–4500 K) lower than the temperature of surrounding material ( ~ 6000) K and makes them visible as dark spots. Sunspot sizes vary from 16 km to 160,000 km in diameter. They usually appear as pairs, with each sunspot having the opposite magnetic pole than the other. Sunspots host coronal loops and reconnection events. Most solar flares and CMEs originate in magnetically active regions around sunspot groups. |