Neil deGrasse Tyson Instagram – ***Solar Acne***
My co-author from “Welcome to the Universe in 3D” @robertvanderbei nabbed this photo of our Sun at 10am ET today (Monday, Jan 16, 2023). It reveals tons of sunspots: Good for aurora-watching in higher latitudes.
The Sun rotates about once per month, so these spots — day by day — slowly drift across the surface. Since they reveal magnetic disturbances in the Sun’s plasma-gas, they always appear in pairs: One with positive and the other with negative polarity, like any red-blooded magnet.
Sunspots track the Sun’s 11-year cycle of surface activity. We are currently on our way up to the next peak in 2025.
For detailed information on this image, and other cool astro-photos, see Bob’s Princeton website. https://vanderbei.princeton.edu/images/NJP/Sun.html | Posted on 17/Jan/2023 02:43:30



