Entry for April 03, 2007 This should brighten up your Tuesday

2007 April 2

An Active Sunspot Viewed Sideways
Credit &Copyright:Hinode,JAXA,NASA

Explanation:Why are there dark spots on the sun? Although noted for thousands of years,sunspots have been known for decades to be regions of the Sun that are slightly depressed and cooled by the Sun's complex and changingmagnetic field. High resolution pictures like theabove image from Japan's new Sun-watchingHinode satellite, however, are helping to increase modern understanding. In the center of theabove image is a sunspot, but not seen in the usual orientation --thissunspot is seen sideways. Of particular interest iserupting glowing gas that shows how the Sun's magnetic field comesright out of thespot center, but curves markedly around the spot edges. Betterunderstanding of how the Sun ejects particles into space may result in more accurate predictions ofsolar storms that affect satellites, astronauts, and even power grids on Earth.

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