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Sunspots

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Encyclopedia of World Climatology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Sunspots are relatively cool, dark areas that are up to 50 000 km in diameter. They represent the visible manifestations of convection cells near the surface of the sun’s photosphere. Marking concentrations of strong magnetic fields (2000–3000 gauss), they have lifetimes of a few days up to some weeks. At the solar surface the field is only about 1 gauss. They vary in number and size in a complex pattern of fluctuations, notably with the following periods: 27 days (the sun’s rotation rate), 6–17 years, average 11.12 (± 6) yr (solar cycle), and 178–179 years (allplanet synod). Characteristically observed in pairs of opposite magnetic polarity, individual spots appear to be connected beneath the surface by tubes of high-energy particles. Energy is released in the solar core by the transmutation of hydrogen to helium under appreciably enhanced pressure and temperature, the later estimated at about 20×106K. The temperature drops near the surface (photosphere) in places to as little as...

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Cross-references

  1. Carbon-14 Dating

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  2. Climate Variation: Historical

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  3. Cycles and Periodicities

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  4. Maunder, Edward Walter and Maunder Minimum

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Authors
  1. Rhodes W. Fairbridge
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana State University, Terre Haute, USA

    John E. Oliver

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Fairbridge, R.W. (2005). Sunspots. In: Oliver, J.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of World Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_199

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