Question

What is the difference between a sunspot and a solar flare ?

Answer 1

Hint:The sun is a star situated at the center of the solar system in the universe. It's structure is a near perfect sphere and is made of hot plasma, heated by nuclear fusion reactions at its innermost layer to a very high temperature. The magnetic field on its surface leads to various different activities and emission of rays.

Complete answer:
The Sun's surface is a hive of activity. It contains electrically charged gases that produce magnetic force fields. Magnetic fields are the term for these regions. The magnetic fields are tangled, stretched, and twisted as the Sun's gases move about. This causes a lot of activity on the Sun's surface, known as solar activity. Solar spots and solar flares are such solar activities caused by the magnetic field.

Let us know to look at each of their meanings.Sunspots are dark patches that appear on the Sun's surface. As they are cooler than other areas, they appear dim. A sunspot's temperature is still extremely high—around 6,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Since they form in areas with especially strong magnetic fields, sunspots are relatively cool. These magnetic fields are so strong that they block some of the Sun's heat from reaching the surface of the sun.

Near sunspots, magnetic field lines often tangle, cross, and reorganise. This may result in a solar flare, which is a sudden explosion of energy. Solar flares emit a significant amount of radiation into space. The radiation released by a solar flare will interfere with our radio communications here on Earth if it is very strong. A coronal mass ejection may occur in conjunction with a solar flare. CMEs (coronal mass ejections) are large clouds of radiation and particles, ejected from the Sun. When the Sun's magnetic field lines reorganise, they erupt into space at a high rate.

Hence, sunspots are active regions of tightly packed magnetic fields of opposing polarity, whereas solar flares are a massive cloud of plasma released from these regions when the magnetic lines reorganize.

Note: Sunspots are actually fairly bright, but they appear dark because the rest of the Sun is so much brighter. And they often appear in pairs. When charged particles from a CME enter areas near Earth, they can trigger auroras, which are bright lights in the sky.