Sunspots are dark, cooler areas on the sun's surface caused by strong magnetic fields that inhibit hot gases from rising. They typically last several days but some can persist for weeks. Solar flares are powerful explosions that heat material to millions of degrees and release energy equivalent to billions of tons of TNT in just minutes. They occur near sunspots along dividing lines of opposing magnetic fields. Solar prominences are dense loops of gases suspended above the sun for days or weeks by magnetic fields but can erupt, releasing a huge sheet of gases into space over hours.

1. Sunspots
Solar Flares
Prominence

2. Sunspots
Sunspots appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun.
Temperatures in the dark centers of sunspots drop to about 3700 K
(compared to 5700 K for the surrounding photosphere). They
typically last for several days, although very large ones may live for
several weeks.

3. 
Sunspot are areas where the magnetic
field is about 2500 times stronger than
the earth; much higher than anywhere
else on the sun.

4. Spectrum analysis shows that sunspots have strong magnetic field, about
1000 times stronger than the Sun's average. Sunspots usually appear in pairs.
The two sunspots of a pair have different polarities, one would be a
magnetic north and the other is a magnetic south, and can be joined by
magnetic field lines. The strong magnetic field locks the gas of the
photosphere in places and inhibits the hotter gas below to rise at the
sunspots. As a result, the sunspots are cooler. Sunspots appear to coincide
with changes in the climate of the Earth. Studies show that during the last ice
age, there were very few sunspots

5. Solar Flares
Solar flares are tremendous explosions on the surface of the Sun. In
a matter of just a few minutes they heat material to many millions of
degrees and release as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT.
They occur near sunspots, usually along the dividing line (neutral
line) between areas of oppositely directed magnetic fields.
Images from SOHO*
*NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
spacecraft

7. 
A solar flare is an eruption of hot gases
from the inner atmosphere of the Sun’s
surface. It travels very quickly and last
for only minutes

8. The first solar flare recorded in
astronomical literature was on
September 1, 1859. Two scientists,
Richard C. Carrington and Richard
Hodgson, were independently observing
sunspots at the time, when they viewed
a large flare in white (visible) light.

9. 
Solar flares are thought to result from the
build up and explosive release of
magnetic energy in the solar
atmosphere. The outer layer of the Sun is
convective, meaning that the gas rolls
up and down like in a pot of boiling
water. This ionized gas (plasma) drags
the Sun's magnetic field with it, twisting it
and strengthening it. In some regions the
magnetic field becomes particularly
strong and breaks out into the solar
atmosphere as discrete, loop-like
structures.

10. 
In active regions where flares occur,
these structures either interact or
become internally unstable, giving a
flare. The signs of a flare are gas rapidly
heated to high temperatures, electrons
and ions accelerated to high energies,
and bulk mass motions.

11. 
The energy in the magnetic field is
thought to be converted into these
things through a process called
magnetic reconnection, in which
oppositely directed magnetic field lines
"break" and connect to each other and
part of their energy is transferred to the
gas in the solar atmosphere.

12. Solar
Prominences
Prominences are dense clouds of material suspended above the surface of
the Sun by loops of magnetic field. Prominences can remain in a quiet or
quiescent state for days or weeks. However, as the magnetic loops that
support them slowly change, prominences can erupt and rise off of the Sun
over the course of a few minutes or hours

13. Solar Prominence as observed from the edge of the Sun
Unusually Large Solar Prominence as viewed by
SOHO spacecraft in 1999
13

14. 
A solar prominence is a burst of a huge
sheet of gases, also from the inner
atmosphere. It is much larger than a flare
and may last for days or even weeks.

15. 
A solar prominence (also known as a
filament) is an arc of gas that erupts from
the surface of the Sun. Prominences can
loop hundreds of thousands of miles into
space. Prominences are held above the
Sun's surface by strong magnetic fields
and can last for many months. At some
time in their existence, most prominences
will erupt, spewing enormous amounts of
solar material into space.