What are sunspots?

Hot, bright flares of gas erupting from the photosphere Cooler, darker regions on the Sun's photosphere caused by strong magnetic fields suppressing the normal flow of heat from below Craters formed by asteroid impacts on the Sun's surface Holes in the corona where solar wind escapes into space

Why do sunspots appear darker than the surrounding photosphere?

They are holes in the Sun's surface that reveal the darker interior They are shadows cast by solar prominences above the photosphere They are about 1,700 degrees Celsius cooler than the rest of the photosphere, so they emit less light They contain dark material from comets that have fallen into the Sun

Approximately how long is one solar cycle, from one solar minimum to the next?

About 1 year About 11 years About 100 years About 22 years

Why is the full magnetic cycle of the Sun 22 years rather than 11 years?

Sunspots take 22 years to form and dissolve completely The 22-year cycle is an error — the correct cycle is 11 years The Sun's magnetic poles reverse every 11 years — it takes two 11-year cycles for the poles to return to their original orientation The Sun orbits the galactic centre every 22 years, resetting its magnetic field

Where do sunspots first appear on the photosphere at the beginning of a new solar cycle?

At the Sun's poles, moving toward the equator over the cycle Randomly distributed across the entire photosphere Always at the equator — sunspots do not move over the cycle At mid-latitudes (about 30-35 degrees from the equator), gradually appearing closer to the equator as the cycle progresses

Who first systematically observed and recorded sunspots through a telescope?

Isaac Newton, who invented the first telescope in 1687 Ancient Babylonian astronomers around 2,000 BCE Galileo Galilei, among others, in the early 1600s Edwin Hubble, using the Mount Wilson telescope in the 1920s

What was the Maunder Minimum, and why does it interest climate scientists?

A period when the Sun was completely covered in sunspots and was extra bright A period from 1645 to 1715 with very few sunspots, correlated with unusually cold temperatures on Earth — the Little Ice Age The minimum size the Sun will reach before expanding into a red giant The point in each 11-year cycle when solar activity reaches its lowest

Why do satellite operators and power grid managers pay close attention to the solar cycle?

The Sun is slightly brighter during solar maximum, changing the amount of power generated by solar panels Solar minimum causes the Sun to dim, reducing electricity generation worldwide Solar maximum brings more flares and CMEs, which can damage satellites, disrupt GPS, and knock out power grids Sunspots create magnetic interference that scrambles electronic signals on Earth

Sunspots appear in pairs. What is special about the magnetic polarity of each pair?

Both spots have the same magnetic polarity — they reinforce each other The polarity is random — it changes from pair to pair The two spots in a pair have opposite magnetic polarity — one is a north magnetic pole and the other is a south magnetic pole Sunspot pairs share no magnetic connection — they just happen to be close together

What happens to sunspots when they decay — where does the magnetic energy go?

The magnetic field is destroyed when sunspots decay — energy disappears Decaying sunspots fall into the Sun's core, restarting the fusion process The magnetic field disperses across the photosphere and can contribute to solar flares or coronal heating The magnetic energy is carried away from the Sun by the solar wind