Movie courtesy of NSF.

Modeling Sunspots

Supercomputer models are helping solar scientists develop a better understanding of sunspots. Sunspots are the visible manifestations of powerful magnetic fields. Magnetically active regions on the Sun around sunspots are the source of solar storms - solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These enormous explosions hurl radiation outward through the Solar System. When these events strike Earth, they can endanger astronauts, disrupt radio communications, and even damage our electrical power systems. They also produce fantastic celestial light shows - the Southern and Northern Lights.

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Last modified January 15, 2010 by Randy Russell.

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Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA