The sunspots are very complex

2002/11/25 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Fisika
• Astrofisika

The Institute of Solar Physics of Stockholm has launched this year the telescope to study the Sun in the Canary Islands. They have already achieved the first images and are very spectacular.

They have achieved the most accurate images that no one has ever taken to sunspots: The photographs have a resolution of 90 kilometers. The new images show the structure of sunspots clearer than ever, obtaining very valuable data on the formation of spots.

The spots appear as a result of the magnetic instability of the surface of the Sun and have a black color due to the temperature difference, with a decrease of 2000 °C in the center of the spot of the spot that in the environment.

The photographs show the presence of gas threads that advance towards the center of the spots. The threads are a consequence of magnetic field currents and, according to scientists, the possibility of observing such small structures will be very useful to create a theoretical model of spots. In addition, scientists believe that these data, together with those that will be obtained in the future, will help solve the physical mechanisms related to the solar magnetic field.