Emergence

The appearance of a sunspot: magnetic lines penetrate the surface of the Sun

Spots arise as a result of disturbances in individual sections of the Sun's magnetic field. At the beginning of this process, a beam of magnetic lines “breaks through” the photosphere into the corona region and slows down the convection movement of the plasma in the granulation cells, preventing the transfer of energy from the internal regions to the outside in these places. The first torch appears in this place, a little later and to the west - a small point called it's time, several thousand kilometers in size. Over the course of several hours, the magnitude of the magnetic induction increases (at initial values of 0.1 tesla), and the size and number of pores increases. They merge with each other and form one or more spots. During the period of greatest sunspot activity, the magnetic induction value can reach 0.4 Tesla.

The lifespan of spots reaches several months, that is, individual spots can be observed during several revolutions of the Sun around itself. It was this fact (the movement of the observed spots along the solar disk) that served as the basis for proving the rotation of the Sun and made it possible to carry out the first measurements of the period of revolution of the Sun around its axis.

Spots usually form in groups, but sometimes a single spot appears that lasts only a few days, or two spots with magnetic lines directed from one to the other.

The first one to appear in such a double group is called the P-spot (preceding), the oldest is the F-spot (following).

Only half of the spots survive more than two days, and only a tenth survive the 11-day threshold

Groups of sunspots always extend parallel to the solar equator.

Properties

The average temperature of the solar surface is about 6000 C (effective temperature - 5770 K, radiation temperature - 6050 K). The central, darkest area of the spots has a temperature of only about 4000 C, the outer areas of the spots bordering the normal surface are from 5000 to 5500 C. Despite the fact that the temperature of the spots is lower, their substance still emits light, albeit to a lesser extent degrees than the rest of the surface. It is because of this temperature difference that when observed, one gets the feeling that the spots are dark, almost black, although in fact they also glow, but their glow is lost against the background of the brighter solar disk.

Sunspots are areas of greatest activity on the Sun. If there are many spots, then there is a high probability that reconnection of magnetic lines will occur - lines passing within one group of spots recombine with lines from another group of spots that have the opposite polarity. The visible result of this process is a solar flare. A burst of radiation reaching the Earth causes strong disturbances in its magnetic field, disrupts the operation of satellites and even affects objects located on the planet. Due to disturbances in the magnetic field, the likelihood of northern lights at low latitudes. The Earth's ionosphere is also subject to fluctuations in solar activity, which manifests itself in changes in the propagation of short radio waves.

In years when there are few sunspots, the size of the Sun decreases by 0.1%. The years between 1645 and 1715 (the Maunder Minimum) are known for global cooling and are called the Little Ice Age.

Classification

Spots are classified depending on their lifespan, size, and location.

Stages of development

Local strengthening of the magnetic field, as mentioned above, slows down the movement of plasma in convection cells, thereby slowing down the transfer of heat to the surface of the Sun. Cooling the granules affected by this process (by about 1000 C) leads to their darkening and the formation of a single spot. Some of them disappear after a few days. Others develop into bipolar groups of two spots, the magnetic lines in which have opposite polarities. They can form groups of many spots, which, if the area increases further, penumbra combine up to hundreds of spots, reaching sizes of hundreds of thousands of kilometers. After this, there is a slow (over several weeks or months) decrease in the activity of the spots and a reduction in their size to small double or single dots.

The largest groups of sunspots always have a connected group in the other hemisphere (northern or southern). Magnetic lines in such cases they leave the spots in one hemisphere and enter the spots in the other.

Cyclicality

Reconstruction of solar activity over 11,000 years

The solar cycle is associated with the frequency of sunspots, their activity and lifespan. One cycle covers approximately 11 years. During periods of minimum activity there are very few or no sunspots on the Sun, while during periods of maximum there may be several hundred of them. At the end of each cycle, the polarity of the solar magnetic field is reversed, so it is more correct to speak of a 22-year solar cycle.

Cycle duration

11 years is an approximate period of time. Although it lasts on average 11.04 years, there are cycles ranging from 9 to 14 years in length. Averages also change over the centuries. Thus, in the 20th century, the average cycle length was 10.2 years. The Maunder minimum (along with other activity minima) suggests that it is possible for the cycle to extend to the order of a hundred years. Based on analyzes of the Be 10 isotope in Greenland ice, data were obtained that over the past 10,000 years there have been more than 20 such long minima.

The cycle length is not constant. Swiss astronomer Max Waldmeier argued that the transition from minimum to maximum solar activity occurs the faster, the greater the maximum number of sunspots recorded in this cycle.

Start and end of the cycle

Spatiotemporal distribution of the magnetic field over the surface of the Sun.

In the past, the beginning of the cycle was considered to be the moment when solar activity was at its minimum point. Thanks to modern methods measurements, it has become possible to determine the change in the polarity of the solar magnetic field, so now the moment of change in the polarity of the sunspots is taken as the beginning of the cycle.

Cycles are identified by serial number, starting with the first, noted in 1749 by Johann Rudolf Wolf. The current cycle (April 2009) is number 24.

Data on recent solar cycles
Cycle number	Start year and month	Year and month of maximum	Maximum number of spots
18	1944-02	1947-05	201
19	1954-04	1957-10	254
20	1964-10	1968-03	125
21	1976-06	1979-01	167
22	1986-09	1989-02	165
23	1996-09	2000-03	139
24	2008-01	2012-12	87.

In the 19th century and until about 1970, there was a hunch that there was a periodicity in the change in the maximum number of sunspots. These 80-year cycles (with the smallest sunspot maxima in 1800-1840 and 1890-1920) are currently associated with convection processes. Other hypotheses suggest the existence of even larger, 400-year cycles.

Literature

Physics of space. Little Encyclopedia, M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1986

Sun
Structure	Core · Radiative transfer zone · Convective zone
Atmosphere	Photosphere · Chromosphere · Solar corona
Extended structure	Heliosphere (Heliospheric current layer · Shock wave boundary) · Heliospheric mantle · Heliopause · Head shock wave
Related to the Sun phenomena	Coronal holes · Coronal loops · Coronal mass ejections · Solar eclipse · Sunspots · Solar torch · Granules · Mourton waves · Prominence · Solar radiation (Solar variations) · Spicules · Supergranulation · sunny wind · Solar flare
Related Topics	solar system · Solar Dynamo
Spectral class:

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Cm … Synonym dictionary

Like the sun in the sky, they dried in one sun, spots in the sun, spots in the sun... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian Dictionaries, 1999. the sun is blazing, (closest to us) star, parhelium, ... ... Synonym dictionary

This term has other meanings, see Sun (meanings). Sun... Wikipedia

Like, for example, in the middle of the last millennium. Every inhabitant of our planet is aware that on the main source of heat and light there are small darkenings that are difficult to see without special devices. But not everyone knows the fact that it is they that lead to which can greatly affect the Earth’s magnetic field.

Definition

In simple terms, sunspots are dark areas that form on the surface of the Sun. It is a mistake to believe that they do not emit bright light, but compared to the rest of the photosphere they are indeed much darker. Their main characteristic is low temperature. Thus, sunspots on the Sun are about 1,500 Kelvin cooler than other areas around them. In fact, they represent the very areas through which magnetic fields reach the surface. Thanks to this phenomenon, we can talk about such a process as magnetic activity. Accordingly, if there are few spots, then this is called a quiet period, and when there are many of them, then such a period will be called active. During the latter, the Sun's glow is slightly brighter due to the torches and flocculi located around the dark areas.

Studying

Observation of sunspots has been going on for a long time, its roots go back to the era BC. Thus, Theophrastus Aquinas back in the 4th century BC. e. mentioned their existence in his works. The first sketch of darkening on the surface of the main star was discovered in 1128, it belongs to John Worchester. In addition, in ancient Russian works of the 14th century, black solar inclusions are mentioned. Science began to study them rapidly in the 1600s. Most scientists of that period adhered to the version that sunspots were planets moving around the axis of the Sun. But after Galileo invented the telescope, this myth was dispelled. He was the first to discover that sunspots are integral to the solar structure itself. This event gave rise to a powerful wave of research and observations that have not stopped since then. Modern study amazes the imagination with its scale. Over the course of 400 years, progress in this area has become noticeable, and now the Royal Belgian Observatory is counting the number of sunspots, but the revelation of all facets of this cosmic phenomenon is still ongoing.

Appearance

Even at school, children are taught about the existence of a magnetic field, but usually only the poloidal component is mentioned. But the theory of sunspots also involves studying the toroidal element; naturally, we are already talking about the magnetic field of the Sun. It cannot be calculated near the Earth, since it does not appear on the surface. The situation is different with heavenly body. Under certain conditions, the magnetic tube floats out through the photosphere. As you might have guessed, this emission causes sunspots to form on the surface. Most often this happens en masse, which is why group accumulations of spots are most common.

Properties

On average it reaches 6000 K, while for spots it is about 4000 K. However, this does not prevent them from still producing a powerful amount of light. Sunspots and active regions, that is, groups of sunspots, have different lifetimes. The first ones live from a couple of days to several weeks. But the latter are much more tenacious and can remain in the photosphere for months. As for the structure of each individual spot, it seems to be complex. Its central part is called the shadow, which looks monochromatic in appearance. In turn, it is surrounded by penumbra, characterized by its variability. As a result of the contact of cold plasma and magnetic plasma, vibrations of the substance are noticeable on it. The sizes of sunspots, as well as their number in groups, can be very diverse.

Cycles of solar activity

Everyone knows that the level is constantly changing. This situation led to the emergence of the concept of the 11-year cycle. Sunspots, their appearance and number are very closely related to this phenomenon. However, this issue remains controversial, since one cycle can vary from 9 to 14 years, and the level of activity constantly changes from century to century. Thus, there may be periods of some kind of calm, when there are practically no spots for more than one year. But the opposite can also happen when their number is considered abnormal. Previously, the countdown of the beginning of the cycle began from the moment of minimum solar activity. But with the advent of improved technologies, the calculation begins from the moment when the polarity of the spots changes. Data on past solar activities are available for study, but they are unlikely to be the most reliable assistant in predicting the future, because the nature of the Sun is very unpredictable.

Impact on the planet

It's no secret that the Sun closely interacts with our daily lives. The earth is constantly under attack from various external irritants. The planet is protected from their destructive effects by the magnetosphere and atmosphere. But, unfortunately, they are not able to resist him completely. Thus, satellites can be disabled, radio communications are disrupted, and astronauts are exposed to increased danger. In addition, radiation affects climate change and even a person’s appearance. There is such a thing as sun spots on the body that appear under the influence of ultraviolet radiation.

This issue has not yet been properly studied, as well as the influence of sunspots on daily life of people. Another phenomenon that depends on magnetic disturbances can be called Magnetic storms have become one of the most famous consequences of solar activity. They represent another external field around the Earth, which is parallel to the constant one. Modern scientists even associate increased mortality, as well as exacerbation of diseases of the cardiovascular system, with the appearance of this very magnetic field. And among the people it even gradually began to turn into superstition.

In ancient times, the Sun was deified. And not only the Sun, but everything celestial in general. Probably, since those ancient times, the well-known opposition between the ideally perfect sky and the sinful, imperfect Earth has come down to us. “Different as the sky from the Earth,” we say about things that are unlike each other in everything.

IN real world it is difficult to find a more suitable object for religious worship than the Sun. In the cult of the Sun, people instinctively expressed the correct idea of the dependence of everything on earth on the Sun. And this cult even penetrated into ancient Greek philosophy - the doctrine of the “perfection” of heaven was sanctified by the authority of Aristotle and his students. However, in those days sun worshipers were found in all corners of the globe.

You can probably guess where I'm going with this conversation. When one of the ancient observers noticed spots on the Sun, he not only made a scientific discovery,

but also insulted the deity. The discovery was valued only by descendants; reprisals for insults occurred immediately. For these reasons, the discovery of sunspots resolved the fundamental dispute - whether the heavens are perfect or nothing earthly is alien to them.

It is difficult to say who was the first to notice spots on the Sun. They were described by ancient Chinese chroniclers, Arab and Armenian chronicles, Russian chronicles, medieval historians - they all note that occasionally some dark formations appear on the Sun, most similar to nails, as if driven into the Sun. The word “spot” appeared later, in the 17th century, when sunspots were first seen through a telescope.

In the history of science, it is not uncommon for several scientists to make a discovery simultaneously and independently of each other. This was the case at the beginning of the 17th century, when the honor of discovering sunspots was disputed by three scientists - the great Italian Galileo Galilei, the Dutchman Johann Fabritius and the German Jesuit professor Christopher Scheiner.

Seeing sunspots through a telescope is not difficult. All you have to do is protect your eyes with a dark filter and point the telescope at the Sun, and you can almost always spot spots on its surface. Ancient observations of sunspots with the naked eye were either forgotten or still unknown.

The first book on sunspots appeared in 1611. In it, Johann Fabricius says that back in December 1610, one morning, while observing the Sun through a telescope, he noticed a black spot on it, which he initially thought was a distant small cloud. However, after some time, when the Sun was already high in the sky, a strange dark “cloud” remained in the same place on the solar disk. When the next morning Fabricius saw the same spot on the Sun and in the same place, all doubts disappeared - the spot was not a cloud, but belonged to the Sun!

A few days later, new spots appeared on the Sun, and the previous spot changed shape and noticeably moved towards the western edge of the Sun. A few more days later it disappeared beyond this edge, but two weeks later it appeared again on the opposite, eastern edge. The conclusion was that the huge solar ball was slowly rotating around its axis, completing a full revolution in about a month.

Fabricius's book was already being prepared for publication when, in March 1611, Scheiner first noticed sunspots through his telescope and showed them to his students. However, unlike Fabricius, Scheiner was in no hurry to publish. He understood perfectly well that spots on the Sun would first of all tarnish his authority as a Jesuit professor, a propagandist of the Aristotelian doctrine of the “inviolable purity” of the heavens. Only in December 1611 did Scheiner dare to write about the discovery of sunspots, although even here he acted quite Jesuitically. Not wanting any trouble, Sheiner stated that the formations he discovered were not spots on the Sun, but unknown planets close to the Sun, projecting on the solar disk in the form of black spots.

Galileo apparently discovered sunspots as early as mid-1610, but never announced his discovery. However, in April 1611 in Rome, Galileo showed sunspots through his telescope to those interested in his astronomical discoveries. Galileo's caution is understandable - everything that he saw in the sky, armed with his eyes with a telescope, ran counter not only to the philosophy of Aristotle, but also to the teachings of the church. In such a situation, sunny

the spots could have been the last straw that overwhelmed the patience of the enemies of the great scientist.

And yet, dangerous as it was, Galileo got involved in a dispute about the nature of sunspots. He took the side of Fabricius and convincingly proved with new observations that the spots were not planets, but some kind of formations on the solar surface.

It should still be remembered kind words and Shaner. He agreed with Galileo's arguments and diligently observed sunspots until 1627. Scheiner clarified the period of rotation of the Sun and described his observations in a voluminous tome containing about 800 pages!

And there are spots on the Sun - in the end, both distrustful scientists and faithful churchmen had to agree with this truth. For almost two centuries, astronomers continued to observe spots on the Sun without discovering anything fundamentally new. Only in the last century it suddenly became clear that the number of spots on the Sun fluctuates according to a certain law.

Heinrich Schwabe, a modest German pharmacist who lived in Germany in the last century, was an astronomy enthusiast. Let us note that “amateurism” is not possible in every activity, much less useful. You probably wouldn't risk seeking help from an amateur surgeon. But amateurs played, and to some extent still play, a major role in astronomy. There have always been few specialist astronomers. They did not have time to follow everything that was happening in the sky. This is where numerous astronomy lovers came to the rescue. They discovered new planets and comets, conducted regular observations of variable stars, and recorded the appearance of meteors. In short, in almost all areas of astronomy, a conscientious observer, armed with even a modest optical instrument, can benefit science. Some of the astronomy lovers, like Heinrich Schwabe, made great discoveries.

In 1826, Schwabe purchased a small telescope and began searching for unknown planets closer to the Sun than Mercury. This topic was fashionable in those years, and everyone wanted to become a pioneer. Obviously, if there are unknown planets, they must be projected onto the solar disk from time to time. At first glance they will look like sunspots, but the structural details will reveal the true nature of the suspicious objects. Here

why Schwabe, with purely German punctuality, for many years recorded in his journals all the spots that appeared on the Sun.

And then, while looking for one thing, Schwabe unexpectedly discovered something completely different. It turned out that approximately every ten years the number of sunspots becomes greatest. Five years after this, it drops to a minimum: on some days the Sun looks just like Aristotle - dazzlingly clear. Schwabe published the first message about his discovery in 1843. However, it became widely known only eight years later, when the famous naturalist Alexander Humboldt, in his book “Cosmos,” notified the whole world about Schwabe’s observations.

The discovery of the mysterious solar rhythm interested the astronomer of the Zurich Observatory Rudolf Wolf. He collected all telescopic observations of sunspots, as well as their descriptions in ancient chronicles. Over a longer period of time, the rhythm of the solar pulse is more clearly expressed. In 1852, Wolf found that the maximum number of sunspots fills the solar disk every 11.1 years (and not once every 10 years, as Schwabe calculated). Three years later, having become director of the Zurich Observatory, Wolf for the first time organized continuous systematic observations of sunspots - a visual expression of the so-called solar activity.

Astronomers at other observatories soon followed Wolf's example. Gradually, a “solar service” was formed - regular, never-ending observations of the Sun at many observatories around the globe. In addition, Wolf discovered connections between solar activity and auroras, magnetic storms and other phenomena on Earth. He was one of the discoverers of the Sun, a specialist astronomer who devoted his entire life to the study of the Sun and solar-terrestrial connections. Do not think that after Wolf, amateur astronomers and solar researchers no longer made discoveries. I'll give just one example.

Alexey Petrovich Moiseev worked at the Moscow Planetarium for many years as head of the slide fund. I first saw him in 1934 at a meeting of the Sun Department of the Moscow Astronomical and Geodetic Society. Tall, thin, modestly dressed, Moiseev did not like to talk about himself or his discoveries.

For a long time I did not know that this already middle-aged amateur astronomer, armed with an astronomical telescope with a lens diameter of only 34 mm, made a great contribution to the study of the Sun and its activity.

Moiseev discovered that the rainbow rings around the Sun and Moon, the so-called haloses, are associated with sunspots. According to his research, the same spots are associated with the frequency of appearance of cirrus clouds and the frequency and strength of thunderstorms.

He was a patient nature explorer who observed the Sun literally every day. And so from year to year, from decade to decade.

It is easy to understand that at the same moment you will see many more sunspots on the Sun through a large telescope than through a small one. In order to compare such heterogeneous observations with each other, they are reduced (reduced) through calculations to some telescope taken as a standard. In other words, they theoretically calculate what could be seen if this telescope were replaced with a standard one.

Abroad, the “standard” telescope has long been considered the one through which Wolf once observed. In Soviet Union for a long time all observations of sunspots were reduced to the tiny telescope of Alexei Petrovich Moiseev.

Isn't this a sign of respect for a modest worker of science who did not have an official diploma as an astronomer, but throughout his life showed himself to be a real scientist?

How are sunspots arranged?

One of the largest active regions of this year has appeared on the solar disk, which means that there are spots on the Sun again - despite the fact that our star is entering the period. Sergei Bogachev, an employee of the Laboratory of X-ray Solar Astronomy of the Lebedev Physical Institute, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, talks about the nature and history of the discovery of sunspots, as well as their impact on the earth’s atmosphere.

In the first decade of the 17th century, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei and the German astronomer and mechanic Christoph Scheiner approximately simultaneously and independently of each other improved the telescope (or telescope) invented several years earlier and created on its basis a helioscope - a device that allows you to observe the Sun by projecting his image on the wall. In these images they discovered details that could be mistaken for wall defects if they did not move along with the image - small spots dotting the surface of the ideal (and partly divine) central celestial body- The sun. This is how sunspots entered the history of science, and the saying that there is nothing ideal in the world came into our lives: “And there are spots on the Sun.”

Sunspots are the main feature that can be seen on the surface of our star without the use of complex astronomical equipment. The visible sizes of the spots are on the order of one arc minute (the size of a 10-kopeck coin from a distance of 30 meters), which is at the limit of resolution of the human eye. However, a very simple optical device, magnifying only a few times, is enough for these objects to be discovered, which, in fact, happened in Europe at the beginning of the 17th century. Individual observations of spots, however, regularly occurred before this, and often they were made simply by eye, but remained unnoticed or misunderstood.

For some time they tried to explain the nature of the spots without affecting the ideality of the Sun, for example, as clouds in the solar atmosphere, but it quickly became clear that they relate only mediocrely to the solar surface. Their nature, however, remained a mystery until the first half of the 20th century, when magnetic fields were first discovered on the Sun and it turned out that the places where they were concentrated coincided with the places where sunspots formed.

Why do the spots look dark? First of all, it should be noted that their darkness is not absolute. It is, rather, similar to the dark silhouette of a person standing against the backdrop of a lit window, that is, it is only apparent against the backdrop of very bright ambient light. If you measure the "brightness" of the spot, you will find that it also emits light, but only at a level of 20-40 percent of the normal light of the Sun. This fact is enough to determine the temperature of the spot without any additional measurements, since the flux of thermal radiation from the Sun is uniquely related to its temperature through the Stefan-Boltzmann law (the flux of radiation is proportional to the temperature of the radiating body to the fourth power). If we put the brightness of the normal surface of the Sun with a temperature of about 6000 degrees Celsius as a unit, then the temperature of sunspots should be about 4000-4500 degrees. Strictly speaking, this is how it is - sunspots (and this was later confirmed by other methods, for example, spectroscopic studies of radiation) are simply areas of the solar surface of lower temperature.

The connection between spots and magnetic fields is explained by the influence of the magnetic field on the temperature of the gas. This influence is due to the presence of a convective (boiling) zone in the Sun, which extends from the surface to a depth of about a third of the solar radius. The boiling of solar plasma continuously raises hot plasma from its depths to the surface and thereby increases the surface temperature. In areas where the surface of the Sun is pierced by tubes of a strong magnetic field, the efficiency of convection is suppressed until it stops completely. As a result, without replenishment of hot convective plasma, the surface of the Sun cools down to temperatures of about 4000 degrees. A stain forms.

Nowadays, sunspots are studied mainly as the centers of active solar regions in which solar flares are concentrated. The fact is that the magnetic field, the “source” of which are sunspots, brings into the solar atmosphere additional reserves of energy that are “extra” for the Sun, and it, like any physical system that seeks to minimize its energy, tries to get rid of them. This additional energy is called free energy. There are two main mechanisms for releasing excess energy.

The first is when the Sun simply throws out into interplanetary space the part of the atmosphere that burdens it, along with excess magnetic fields, plasma and currents. These phenomena are called coronal mass ejections. The corresponding emissions, spreading from the Sun, sometimes reach colossal sizes of several million kilometers and are, in particular, the main cause of magnetic storms - the impact of such a plasma clot on the Earth’s magnetic field throws it out of balance, causes it to oscillate, and also strengthens electric currents, flowing in the Earth’s magnetosphere, which is the essence of a magnetic storm.

The second way is solar flares. In this case, free energy is burned directly in the solar atmosphere, but the consequences of this can also reach the Earth - in the form of streams of hard radiation and charged particles. This impact, which is radiation in nature, is one of the main reasons for the failure of spacecraft, as well as auroras.

However, having discovered a sunspot on the Sun, you should not immediately prepare for solar flares and magnetic storms. A fairly common situation is when the appearance of spots on the solar disk, even record-breaking large ones, does not lead to even a minimal increase in the level of solar activity. Why is this happening? This is due to the nature of the release of magnetic energy on the Sun. Such energy cannot be released from a single magnetic flux, just as a magnet lying on a table, no matter how much it is shaken, will not create any solar flare. There must be at least two such threads, and they must be able to interact with each other.

Since one magnetic tube piercing the surface of the Sun in two places creates two spots, then all groups of spots in which there are only two or one spots are not capable of creating flares. These groups are formed by one thread, which has nothing to interact with. Such a pair of spots can be gigantic and exist on the solar disk for months, frightening the Earth with their size, but will not create a single, even minimal, flare. Such groups have a classification and are called type Alpha, if there is one spot, or Beta, if there are two.

Complex sunspot of the Beta-Gamma-Delta type. Top - visible spot, bottom - magnetic fields shown using the HMI instrument on board the SDO space observatory

If you find a message about the appearance of a new sunspot on the Sun, take the time and look at the type of group. If it is Alpha or Beta, then you don’t have to worry - the Sun will not produce any flares or magnetic storms in the coming days. A more difficult class is Gamma. These are groups of sunspots in which there are several spots of northern and southern polarity. In such a region there are at least two interacting magnetic fluxes. Accordingly, such an area will lose magnetic energy and recharge solar activity. And finally, the last class is Beta Gamma. This is the maximum complex areas, with extremely confusing magnetic field. If such a group appears in the catalog, there is no doubt that the Sun will unravel this system for at least several days, burning energy in the form of flares, including large ones, and ejecting plasma until it simplifies this system to a simple Alpha or Beta configuration.

However, despite the “terrifying” connection of spots with flares and magnetic storms, we should not forget that this is one of the most remarkable astronomical phenomena that can be observed from the surface of the Earth using amateur instruments. Finally, sunspots are a very beautiful object - just look at their high-resolution images. Those who, even after this, are not able to forget about the negative aspects of this phenomenon, can be consoled by the fact that the number of spots on the Sun is still relatively small (no more than 1 percent of the disk surface, and often much less).

A number of types of stars, at least red dwarfs, “suffer” to a much greater extent - up to tens of percent of their area can be covered with spots. You can imagine what the hypothetical inhabitants of the corresponding planetary systems are like, and once again rejoice at what relatively calm star we are lucky enough to live next to.