The Sharpest Image of a Sunspot Looks Like Pure Evil

The largest solar observatory in the world has just released it's first image of a sunspot, and it looks like a close up of Sauron's eye (in other words, pure evil). 

The image achieved a spatial resolution 2.5 times higher than any other photo taken of the sun, and shows magnetic structures on the Sun as small as 20 km (12.4 miles) wide. Considering that the sun is 147.15 million km (91.4 million miles) away, that's pretty close up.

But what exactly is a sunspot? Sunspots are dark areas on the surface of the Sun that are caused by magnetic field flux which makes surrounding areas cool down temporarily. Sunspots aren't small either - in the latest image (above) the sunspot measures 16,000 km (10,000 miles) across, which is large enough to fit the Earth inside. 

What you're actually seeing is hot and cool gas coming from the dark center of the sunspot, while hot gases rise to the surface from below. Although sunspots are cooler than other areas on the sun, they are around 7,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Toasty! 

Sunspots are similar to solar flares, which are so intense they can wreak chaos on power grids, satellites and air travel on Earth. However, sunspots don't have mass ejections of plasma like solar flares. Sunspots are an indication of solar activity on the Sun, so the more sunspots, the more active the Sun is. 

Studying sunspots will help scientists to better understand space weather and be more prepared for freak events in space. And the rest of us get to look at some very cool images, so it's win-win for all.