New, Close-Up View Probes the Nature of Sunspots

[Fraser]

Seriously, I don't think we should stare at this too long … but for scientists who plan to, this new, high-resolution view of a sunspot stands to unlock secrets of the Sun's mysterious energetics. In the just-released image above, the interface between a sunspot's umbra (dark center) and penumbra (lighter outer region) shows a complex structure [...]

More... (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/19/new-close-up-view-probes-the-nature-of-sunspots/)

[galactic cannibal]

Thank you. A new picture for my collection. I don't add to it too often.

[dhd40]

Seriously, I don't think we should stare at this too long … but for scientists who plan to, this new, high-resolution view of a sunspot stands to unlock secrets of the Sun's mysterious energetics. In the just-released image above, the interface between a sunspot's umbra (dark center) and penumbra (lighter outer region) shows a complex structure [...]

More... (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/19/new-close-up-view-probes-the-nature-of-sunspots/)

The text is very unclear to me: Is it an image of a real sunspot, or the image of a simulated sunspot?

[CJSF]

It is from a computer simulation, according to the article.

CJSF

[dhd40]

It is from a computer simulation, according to the article.

CJSF

Thanks. Still, it looks very "natural" to me. Must be a really good simulation