Sunspots Missing???

Sun, a major source of energy for all forms of life on the Earth, is our nearest star and is at the center of the Solar System. How many of us know that this huge ball of fire has sunspots on it? Sunspots are nothing but dark regions that emerge on the outer surface of the sun. Sunspots are caused due to intense magnetic activity taking place inside the sun.

Magnetic loops get intensified and burst out through the surface forming dark regions. These spots are said to partly effect the time the earth takes to rotate once on its own axis. But now there are reports that, for the past two years the sunspots have been mostly absent. Do you think this is a good sign?

The space telescopes have revealed many things about our nearest star and its influence on the Earth. Sunspots and other clues indicate that the sun’s magnetic activity is diminishing, and that the sun may even be shrinking. These spots occur in groups and the largest sunspots observed have had diameters of about 50,000 km, which makes them large enough to be seen with the naked eye. Groups of sunspots might forewarn us of gigantic solar storms that can give out a billion times more energy than an atomic bomb. There are also fears that these giant solar eruptions could create havoc on Earth and effect the sun’s role in climate change. These issues are creating an urge for the scientists to carry out more researches.