There are many things with spots: Dalmatians, leopards, ladybugs, overripe bananas, and guys with bald spots are all great examples.

Another thing with spots is the Sun!

That's right! The Sun, as it progresses through its solar cycle, gets these dark areas, or spots, on its surface. These are appropriately called "sunspots", and the National Weather Service says the average sunspot is about the size of Earth!

It is important to remember never to look directly at the Sun without proper eye protection, and you shouldn't point any camera or telescope at it without the proper filters.

These sunspots are actually cooler areas on the Sun's surface, which is one of the reasons they are visible. NASA says these sunspots are around 6,000°F, where the rest of the Sun's surface is 10,000°F.

Both are really high temperatures, but obviously have a huge temperature difference. UCAR, Center for Science Education, says sunspots are caused by twisting, chaotic magnetic fields in the Sun's convective zone.

These twists and tangles prevent heat from getting to the surface. This results in sunspots!

These powerful magnetic disturbances also produce active regions for the Sun. These can often create solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections.

And these sunspots tell us where we are in the Solar Cycle.

When there are few to no spots on the Sun's surface, that is considered the solar minimum. On the other hand, when you have the most spots on the Sun's surface, that is considered the solar maximum.

During the solar cycle, the activity on the Sun's surface goes from the solar minimum to the maximum and back to the minimum, a cycle that takes about 11 years.

So, why is this even important?

When the Sun has many spots, it is a sign that the Sun is very active, but not only with sunspots. The sunspots are easy to see and are a symptom of increased solar activity. With the increase in spots, you have an increase in coronal mass ejections and solar flares.

These can cause geomagnetic storms. We have seen these recently in the form of the Northern Lights. Geomagnetic storms can cause big issues, though. They can disrupt communication equipment, damage power grids, and damage satellites.

That is a more extreme case.

We are coming out of the most recent solar maximum, so the sunspots will likely be disappearing from the Sun's surface.

My bald spot is mid-cycle, so don't look for that to go away any time soon.

Sunspots, solar flares, and the solar cycle | Hey Ray