Question

What are the sunspots? What part of the sun are they located in?

Answer 1

Hint: In the given question, we are required to define the sunspots properly and mention the area where they are located. The sunspots are caused due to the disturbances in the Sun's own magnetic field welling up to the photosphere and can last up to a few months, but eventually decays.

Complete answer:
Sun spots are the darker, cooler areas that are present on the surface of the Sun in a region called the photosphere. They are the regions where the magnetic field is about a thousand times greater than that of the Earth. The photosphere has a temperature of about Kelvins.

They are not dull but look dark only in comparison to the other hotter and brighter regions in the photosphere. Sun spots are the regions of reduced surface temperature caused by the concentrations of magnetic field flux that inhibit convection transfer of heat energy. They usually appear in pairs of opposite magnetic polarity.

The region of the sun spot which appears dark is called ‘umbra’ and the region that is lit up by light is called ‘penumbra’. The size of the sunspots is roughly the same as that of the Earth. Sun spots contract and expand as they move across the surface of the Sun with diameters up to a few thousand kilometers. Sunspots are located on the outermost layer of the Sun called ‘Photosphere’.

Note: The concept of Sunspots was the first and foremost evidence of the Sun’s rotation on its own axis. Sun’s rotational motion was first detected by observing the motion of the Sun spots. Sun rotates on its axis in about twenty seven days. Photosphere is the visible surface of the Sun.