The surface of the Sun - The Photosphere

The photosphere is the thing you see when you look at the sun. The picture to the left is a recent photograph taken in normal light.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Each square centimeter of the solar surface emits as much light as a 6000 Watt lamp.

Click on the movie projector to the right to see a time-lapse movie of the photosphere (945k MPEG).(If you need help with movies, there is a help page.)

As you see there are very little sun spots at the moment. A few years ago this was very different; the picture below was taken then.