A closeup view of a typical pair of sunspots, with Earth superimposed to show scale. Click on image for full size (72K JPEG) Original Windows to the Universe artwork by Randy Russell using images from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (sunspot image) and NASA (Earth image).

Sunspots are very large structures. Although they look small against the backdrop of the Sun, which has a diameter of 1.4 million km (870 thousand miles), most sunspots could swallow a planet. Many sunspots, like the ones shown in the image on this page, are as large as Earth! Most spots range in size from about 1,500 km (932 miles) to around 50,000 km (31,068 miles) in diameter. Occasionally gigantic sunspots the size of Jupiter appear on the Sun's "surface".

Astronomers believe some other stars also have spots. Young stars seem especially likely to have large numbers of starspots, and some of those may be immense.

This picture show how big sunspots are. Many sunspots are as big as Earth! Earth never really gets this close to the Sun; we just put Earth in the picture to show how large sunspots are. Click on image for full size (72K JPEG) Original Windows to the Universe artwork by Randy Russell using images from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (sunspot image) and NASA (Earth image).

Sunspots are very big structures. They might look small compared to the Sun, but remember the Sun has a diameter of 1.4 million km (870 thousand miles).

Most sunspots could swallow a planet! Many sunspots, like the ones shown in the image on this page, are as large as Earth! Most spots range in size from about 1,500 km (932 miles) to around 50,000 km (31,068 miles) in diameter. Once in a while, huge sunspots the size of Jupiter show up on the Sun's surface.

Sunspots are really, really big. Many sunspots are as big as Earth. Earth never really gets this close to the Sun. We made up this picture with Earth next to sunspots so you could see how big sunspots are. Click on image for full size (72K JPEG) Original Windows to the Universe artwork by Randy Russell using images from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (sunspot image) and NASA (Earth image).

Sunspots are very, very BIG!

Most sunspots could swallow a planet! Many sunspots are as big as Earth! Once in a while, huge sunspots the size of Jupiter show up on the Sun.

Most spots are about 1,500 km (932 miles) to around 50,000 km (31,068 miles) across. The Sun sure is a big place!