Starship Asterisk*

Amazing picture, but I noticed that it was released in 1998. There should be even more amazing pictures since then, even a huge library of pictures.

AN observation: I noticed that the granules look like they are stretched out at the sunspot's depression. Is this also caused by the sun's strong magnetic field?
Orin

Most of the Sun's activity at the surface and in the aureole is forged by the strong magnetic fields. Nearly all movement travels along them.

"The Sun's complex magnetic field creates this cool region by inhibiting hot material from entering the spot."

I note that in the very center of the sunspot, there is a feature that looks somewhat like a crater? We've witnessed cryo-volcanoes at Neptune, are there 'plasma volcanoes' on Sol? What crust might they erupt from?

Q: Looking at this sunspot in 'cross-section', do the ends of the magnetic 'tubules' nearest the center of the image bend inwards? or outwards? What would the mag. fields directly above this spot look like in real time?

The whole thing reminds me of a crater that would be approx 25000km accorss and about 5000km deep. It does resemble an ejecta crater like the ones on hyperion rather than an impact crater. What would be needed is a good laser altimeter reading on the topography of the sun spot.

I would have to say that instead of a crater it looks more like a "down draft". The "granules" seem to be going down into it?! Just my $5000.00 worth.

Norval

The plasma filaments are going in both direction, they traverse along the magnetic lines away from the Sun's surface then return, only the hottest of the ions break free to become part of the solar winds. If the magnetic line "Snaps" or breaks, the result is a solar flare with the ions loosing their path to return to the surface.


http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/ima ... 63&gid=243

So a short circuit on the sun makes for active ham radio skips.

Norval

And the BIG ones can drop the power grids in LA and NY.

If light is the means of communication than we have a problem in stating that sunspots are cooler.
If you notice the gravitational convectional currents are moving into the sunspot taking into it light and matter. If the amount of light is reduced than compared to the surrounding area outside the sun spot would look less bright giving us a false reading. This in the past has led us to believe that sunspots a cooler because they are not as bright.
There is a formular in calculating the difference and i would bet the temperature would be equal on both sides of the fence.