The Sun's magnetic field which is probably created by the differential rotation of the Sun together with the movement of charged particles in the convective zone. Understanding how the solar magnetic
field comes about is the fundamental problem of Solar Physics. The solar magnetic field is responsible for all solar magnetic phenomena, such as sunspots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and the solar wind. The solar magnetic fields are observed from the Zeeman broadening of spectral lines, polarization effects on radio emission, and from the channeling of charged particles into visible coronal streamers. The strength of Sun's average magnetic field is 1 gauss (twice the average field on the surface of Earth, around 0.5 gauss), and can be as strong as 4,000 Gauss in the neighborhood of a large sunspot.
The amount of mass in our Sun, about 330,000 times the Earth's mass. The solar mass is also the unit in which the masses of other stars, galaxies, and other large celestial bodies are expressed.
The time during the 11-year solar cycle when the number of sunspots -- and solar activity -- reaches a maximum. The next solar maximum is predicted for late 2013.
The time during the 11-year solar cycle when the number of sunspots is lowest. This is also the time when the sun's magnetic fields are at their most simple, with relatively orderly magnetic field lin
es connecting magnetic north and south much like on a simple bar magnet.