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Key Information

Sunspots

Type Star
Diameter 865,373 miles
Distance 92,955,807 miles (1 AU)
Temperature 9,900 °F
Core Temperature 28,259,000 °F
Star Type G2V
Date of Discovery Unknown
Size of Sunspots 10 to 100,000 miles

Learning Point

  • First seen more than two thousand years ago, sunspots have been studied since the development of telescopes. They are small, cooler areas of the sun’s surface, caused by changes in the magnetic field of the sun. They follow a cycle, where there are fewer or more sunspots depending where in the cycle the sun is.

Project

  • Identify when there are more sunspots. Can you identify a time when there were an especially large amount?
  • Overview
  • Seen in UV
Sunspots on the surface of our Sun
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Sunspots on our Sun seen in Ultraviolet (UV) light
By NASA/TRACE. (Public domain) – http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020508.html, Public Domain, Link

Location

Located in Milky Way

Fun Facts

  • The earliest record of sunspots is found in the Chinese I Ching, completed before 800 BC.
  • The first drawings of sunspots were made by English monk John of Worcester in December 1128.
  • Sunspots were first observed telescopically in December 1610 by English astronomer Thomas Harriot.
  • Within sunspot groups, multiple umbrae may be surrounded by a single, continuous penumbra.
  • Isolated from the surrounding photosphere, a single sunspot would shine brighter than the full moon, with a crimson-orange color.

Past Lessons

57 August 14, 2023 (North America)
No Past Lessons

Upcoming Lessons

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