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Sunspot

iSGTW story | Copyright UCAR, image courtesy Matthias Rempel, NCAR.

 

The interface between a sunspot's umbra (dark center) and penumbra (lighter outer region) shows a complex structure with narrow, almost horizontal (lighter to white) filaments embedded in a background having a more vertical magnetic field. Farther out, extended patches of horizontal field dominate. NCAR scientists and colleagues modeled this complex structure in a 3D computer simulation, giving scientists their first glimpse below the visible surface to understand the underlying physical processes.

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Uploaded on November 2, 2009
Taken on October 28, 2008