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Image: Sunspot vtt

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Sunspot_vtt.jpg ‎(800 × 600 pixels, file size: 87 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Description: A sunspot is a depression on the Sun's face that is slightly cooler and less luminous than the rest of the Sun. The Sun's complex magnetic field creates this cool region by inhibiting hot material from entering the spot. Sunspots can be larger than the Earth and typically last for only a few days. This high-resolution picture also shows clearly that the Sun's face is a bubbling sea of separate cells of hot gas. These cells are known as granules. A solar granule is about 1000 kilometers across and lasts about 10 minutes. After that, many granules end up exploding. A Sunspot Up Close Credit : Vacuum Tower Telescope, NSO, NOAO.
Title: Sunspot vtt
Credit: Astronomy Picture of the Day from url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051106.html
Author: Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
Permission: Images from NASA are usually in the public domain.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No

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