In addition to the huge black spots on the Sun that cause solar flares, tiny bright dots appear on its surface. For the first time, white spots were detected using the Solar Orbiter in 2020 and have puzzled scientists ever since. A new study opens the veil of secrets of the nature of these mysterious spots that continue to appear and disappear on the surface of the Sun.
Sunspots are dark areas that appear on our star due to magnetism inside the burning mass. They can last from several hours to several months. White spots live for a very short time and disappear a minute after their appearance. Astronomers called them “sunspots” and decided to study them. A new analysis of sunspots has been published in The Astrophysical Journal. It turned out that sunspots can be associated with magnetic activity inside the Sun.
Although scientists were able to study these spots a little, the discovery actually raised more questions than answers, since it suggests that the Sun is much more complex than scientists thought. The researchers observed 170 solar spots about 1,000 kilometers wide. They may seem huge, but in fact, against the background of the Sun, they are tiny, almost imperceptible.
It is found that the white spots are about 30% brighter than the surrounding plasma. Scientists created a simulation of the dots and could find out that they form at the moments of magnetic reconnection, when the magnetic field lines descend to the Sun and intersect with those that rise up. However, in fact, some dots did not appear in the right areas to fully explain this phenomenon. Therefore, there may be other explanations for the white spots.
Earlier, a solar storm caused a radio blackout over Asia and Australia.
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