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Last Post 3/23/2012 6:45 AM by  Terry Kucera
Sunsposts
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3/22/2012 7:24 AM

    Cheri S (SA)

    What might it look like if you were inside a sunspot, or like looking up through one into space?

    Tags: sunspots, Inside a sunspot

    Terry Kucera



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    Posts:328
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    3/23/2012 6:45 AM

    Hi Cheri,

    A sunspot is a place on the Sun's surface where it is a little cooler than other places on the surface, but it is still very, very hot, about 3,700° C or 6,700° F. Nothing solid can exist there.

    Let's pretend, though, that somehow you could survive. What would you see? Well, it would be incredibly bright, but if you has special eyes that could see extreme ultraviolet light or X-rays you could see huge magnetic loops full of super hot plasma arching up away from the sunspot. Sunspots can be quite large, as big at the Earth, but if you could see the general area around the spot you would have a good seat to see bright solar flares like this one: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071106.html

    Terry



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