The Sun's photosphere with sunspots, as it might appear through a filtered telescope Sproul Plaza Sungazing: Stop by Sproul Plaza and view the sun through our filtered telescope. See sunspots, limb darkening, and other features of the Sun's photosphere. While you're observing our nearest star, you can meet other amateur astronomers and find out about the club's upcoming activities. Check the Announcements section of this website for the date and time of the next sungazing session. About 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). A close-up view of a sunspot, showing the dark umbra and the lighter penumbra They typically last for several days, although very large ones may live for several weeks. Sunspots are magnetic regions on the Sun with magnetic field strengths thousands of times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field. Sunspots usually come in groups with two sets of spots. One set will have positive or north magnetic field while the other set will have negative or south magnetic field. The field is strongest in the darker parts of the sunspots - the umbra. The field is weaker and more horizontal in the lighter part - the penumbra. The Sun Right Now: The image below shows the current configuration of sunspots on the solar disk. Numbers are assigned to sunspots in the order in which they appear on the sun, so lower numbers indicate older spots. Updated daily. This is a white-light image of the sun showing the current configuration of sunspots. Updated daily. Click the image for a larger view.