SunspotsHere's the Sun as it appeared to Earthlings on October 25, 2003. The dark patches on the otherwise uniform-looking disk are sunspots. The ones on this image are among the largest ever seen.Sunspots are associated with intense magnetic fields, wwhich are constantly changing. Often, they snap, releasing vast quantities of energy as flares and in the form of X-ray an dparticle radiation. This happened oseveral times between late October and early November 2003. the resulting particle radiation mad it to Earth and produced spectacular auroral displays several times during the period (see October image and caption). On November 3, 2003, one of these sunspots produce dthe most powerful explosin ever observed in the solar system. Since the flare occured in the on the Sun's limb, its particle radiation was not directed towards us. |
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