SUNSPOTS:
        Sunspots are cooler, darker areas in the photosphere that appear to be dark blemishes on the sun's surface. In 1610, Galileo used his telescope to watch these sunspots. His findings made the Roman Catholic Church very upset, for they believed that God's creations had no imperfections. Today, we know that sunspots are not merely imperfections, but in fact they are daily solar events. They seem to be darker because they are cooler than the other gases, even though they are still very hot, almost 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit. They can range from 500 to 50,000 miles in diameter. Sunspots have a dark center, called its umbra and a less dark region, called it's penumbra. Sunspots may appear alone or in groups of over one hundred, lasting for either a few hours or as long as eighteen months. On average, a sunspot lasts about a week.
       Scientists have not yet been able to fully understand where they come from or their purpose for existence. What they do know is that the sun has a strong magnetic field. When these magnetic forces break through the photosphere, sunspots appear. Magnetic forces slow down the vibration of gas atoms, making these areas cooler and darker than the surroundings.
       In 1843, astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwabe, noticed that sunspots appear in cycles. A few sunspots, is called a solar minimum. When there are many sunspots, it is called a solar maximum. The periods between maximums can average almost eleven years but can vary from seven to seventeen.

SOLAR FLARES:
        Solar flares are one of the most spectacular sights of the sun. Flares are explosions caused by magnetic forces on the sun's surface. A flare may only last a few minutes but it can be as powerful as ten million hydrogen bombs. A big flare can produce enough energy to supply one of our major cities with electricity for 200 million years.
       A flare sends billions of tons of solar matter in to space, along with light, heat, and radiation. Particles of matter are carried by the solar wind. Solar wind blows even harder after a flare, but is constantly moving. It can carry one million tons of the sun in to space every second at a speed of 200 to 500 miles per second. Solar wind can not be seen, but can be felt. NASA has designed a solar sail that can use solar wind to push a spacecraft between planets without an engine.