also, due to sunspot activity, the dark ages was actually darker and fewer crops grew.

By contrast, the largest group on record, from 1947, would have needed about 141 'Earths’ to cover it. For a spot to be visible without magnification, it must be approximately twice the size of the Earth. The result of this is the creation of areas of lower temperature, which are visible as dark spots. The loops rise and break the surface, preventing convection of the superheated gases underneath. This stretching causes tubes or tunnels to form in the magnetic field. This causes the magnetic field to become increasingly 'wound up’ as the Sun rotates, stretching the magnetic field between the poles and the equator. Babcock in 1961 – suggests that they are caused by changes in the Sun’s magnetic field.īecause the rotation period of the Sun is faster at the equator than towards the poles, a 'differential rotation’ is created. The generally accepted theory – proposed by H.

Since they moved across the surface of the Sun, some astronomers originally thought they might be small planets in orbit, while others suspected they were simply imperfections within telescopes. Sunspots are cooler parts of the Sun’s surface caused by massive changes in the Sun’s magnetic field.Īlthough sunspots are a phenomenon that has been known about for at least several thousands of years, our understanding of them has been far less certain.

Also, due to sunspot activity, the dark ages was actually darker and fewer crops grew.