You may have heard that solar activity has been low in recent years? Sunspots can be an indicator of solar radiation leaving the sun for space. Sunspots are storms on the surface of the sun that can be 30,000 miles across, which is four times larger than the diameter of the earth. A sunspot is a magnetic anomaly on the photosphere of the sun producing temperatures ranging from 6,000 to 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit, cooler than other portions of the sun’s photosphere. These spots can impact the Earth's weather patterns, although a direct correlation between global weather patterns is difficult to measure. The amount of radiation that the Earth receives from the sun actually increases when sunspot activity increases. Overall, the more sunspots observed the greater the increase in the sun’s solar constant or brightness.
