Sun  ID: 20070

Under the Sunspots

Animations by Walt Feimer Released on March 20, 2003
New studies show that the Sun's active regions — areas of intense eruptions — are formed from many small magnetic structures (white loops) that rise from deep within the interior, then pierce the surface to form sunspots (dark areas). These structures appear as giant arches when electrified gas (plasma) passes through their magnetic fields.
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Magnetic field lines poke through the solar surface, producing sunspots and occasionally flares.
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Standard def frames

Animation Credits

Walt Feimer (HTSI): Lead Animator
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20070

This item is part of this series:
SOHO/MDI Helioseismology

Keywords:
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Flares
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Sunspots
NASA Science >> Sun
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Coronal Mass Ejections

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0