                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2026 February 11
      An image of the Sun is surrounded by 12 smaller Sun images. Each
   surrounding image has some spots on it, but the large central image has
      the most dark spots. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                             A Year of Sunspots
     Image Credit: NASA, SDO; Processing & Copyright: Şenol Şanli & Uğur
        İkizler; Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

   Explanation: How many sunspots can you see? The central image shows the
   many sunspots that occurred in 2025, month by month around the circle,
   and all together in the grand central image. Each sunspot is
   magnetically cooled and so appears dark -- and can last from days to
   months. Although the featured images originated from NASA's Solar
   Dynamics Observatory, sunspots can be easily seen with a small
   telescope or binoculars equipped with a solar filter. Very large
   sunspot groups like recent AR 4366 can even be seen with eclipse
   glasses. Sunspots are still counted by eye, but the total number is not
   considered exact because they frequently change and break up. Last
   year, 2025, coincided with a solar maximum, the period of most intense
   magnetic activity during its 11-year solar cycle. Our Sun remains
   unpredictable in many ways, including when it ejects solar flares that
   will impact the Earth, and how active the next solar cycle will be.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

