Solar prominences are huge, loop like extensions emanating
from the sun's photosphere outward through the corona. Prominences are loops of plasma,
similar to the composition of the chromosphere. The largest prominence ever measured
was roughly the radius of the sun itself. Solar prominences resemble eruptions similar
to the eruptions of volcanoes here on Earth, which are caused by pressure within the
Earth's mantle and crust. Although the chemical composition is different, perhaps the
principle is the same, that the prominence is a solar "eruption" of hot solar
gases.
Sunspots are cooler areas of activity onthe sun.
They are visible as darker areas on the surface of the sun, and go through regular
cycles one may observe. Sunspots are areas of high magnetic activity that resist the
convective cycles of heat transfer within the sun's layers, so they appear darker as a
result of lowered temperatures.
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