Image:Sunspots on sun.jpg

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Sunspots_on_sun.jpg‎ (262 × 262 pixels, file size: 10 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Image of the sun's solar disk, showing sunpsots on the surface.

Source (Wikipedia): Image:Sunspot with Earth Comparison.jpg (excerpt extracted for just solar-disk image).

Variations:

with closeup of upper sunspots: Image:Sunspot with Earth Comparison.jpg.

[edit] Explanation

The top group of sunspots is active region 9393, as seen by the MDI instrument on SOHO, which was the largest sunspot group observed so far during the current solar cycle. On 30 March 2001, the sunspot area within the group spanned an area more than 13 times the entire surface of the Earth. It was the source of numerous flares and coronal mass ejections, including one of the largest flares recorded in 25 years on 2 April 2001. Caused by intense magnetic fields emerging from the interior, a sunspot appears to be dark only when contrasted against the rest of the solar surface, because it is slightly cooler than the unmarked regions. The image was created by NASA, an agency of the US Federal Government.

[edit] Licensing

This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy)

Warnings:

Use of NASA logos, insignia and emblems are restricted per US law 14 CFR 1221.
The NASA website hosts a large number of images from the Soviet/Russian space agency, and other non-American space agencies. These are not in the public domain.
Materials from the Hubble Space Telescope may be copyrighted if they do not explicitly come from the STScI. [1]
All materials created by the SOHO probe are copyrighted and require permission for commercial non-educational use. [2]
Images featured on the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) web site may be copyrighted. [3]

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

	Date/Time	Dimensions	User	Comment
current	05:51, 14 March 2007	262×262 (10 KB)	Wikid77 (Talk \| contribs)	(Image of the sun's solar disk, showing sunpsots on the surface. Source (Wikipedia): Image:Sunspot with Earth Comparison.jpg (excerpt extracted for just solar-disk image). Variations: :* with closeup of upper sunspots: [[Image:Sunspot with Ea)