These two pictures show sunspots on the Sun. Sunspots only form near the Sun's equator. They never form near the Sun's poles.
Click on image for full size
Images courtesy of SOHO/NASA/ESA.

The Sun's Poles

Earth has a North Pole, a South Pole, and an equator. The Sun does too! Some things are different at the Sun's poles from the way they are near the Sun's equator.

The Sun has a magnetic field. The Sun's magnetic field has a North Magnetic Pole and a South Magnetic Pole. About every 11 years, the Sun's magnetic poles flip. North becomes South and South becomes North.

Did you know that the Sun has spots? Sunspots are dark places on the "surface" of the Sun. The magnetic field around sunspots is much, much stronger than normal. Sunspots only show up near the Sun's equator. We never see sunspots near the Sun's poles.

The Sun is a bit like a huge ball. However, it is not a solid ball. It is a ball made of gas and plasma. Some parts of the Sun-ball spin around faster than other parts. The part near the equator spins fastest. Places near the poles spin around more slowly.

The Sun has an atmosphere. The Sun's atmosphere near the poles is different from its atmosphere near the equator. The corona is part of the Sun's atmosphere. The corona sticks out further from the Sun's surface near the equator. The corona doesn't stick out as far above the poles. The solar wind is also different at the poles. It "blows" much faster above the poles than it does above the Sun's equator.

Last modified June 11, 2009 by Randy Russell.

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

The Magnetic Field

The force of magnetism causes material to point along the direction the magnetic force points. Here's another picture of how this works. This picture shows where the magnetic poles of the Earth are to...more

The Sun's Magnetic Field

Text for this level has not been written yet. Please see the "Intermediate" text for this page if you want to learn about this topic. To get to the "Intermediate" text, click on the blue "Intermediate"...more

Sunspots

Sunspots are dark spots on the Sun. They may look small, but they are actually as bigas a planet like Earth or Mars! Sunspots are "dark" because they are colder than the areas around them. Of course, they...more

The Photosphere - the "Surface" of the Sun

Most of the energy we receive from the Sun is the visible (white) light emitted from the photosphere. The photosphere is one of the coolest regions of the Sun (6000 K), so only a small fraction (0.1%)...more

Sunspots and Magnetic Fields

You probably have magnets on your refrigerator holding up some of your artwork or a photograph of a friend or family. Did you know that it is magnetic fields (which all magnets have) that make sunspots...more

Solid

Solid is one of the four common states of matter. The three others are gas, liquid, and plasma. There are also some other exotic states of matter that have been discovered in recent years. Unlike liquids...more

The Plasma State

Plasma is known as the fourth state of matter. The other three states are solid, liquid and gas.Almost everything is made up of atoms (your dog, your science book, this computer...). The atom has a nucleus...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA