what are the dark spots on the sun called
Sunspot Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as spots darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic field flux that inhibit convection. Sunspots usually appear in pairs of opposite magnetic polarity.[2] Their number varies according to the approximately 11-year solar cycle.
Night sky Planets, named for the Greek word for "wanderer," process through the star field a little each day, executing loops with time scales dependent on the length of the planets year or orbital period around solar system. Planets, to the naked eye, appear as points of light in the sky with variable brightness. Planets shine due to sunlight reflecting or scattering from the planets surface or atmosphere. Thus the relative sun planet earth positions determine the planets brightness. With telescope or good binoculars the planets appear as discs demonstrating finite size and also show phases like Earth's moon and also may possess their own orbiting moons which occasionally cast shadow onto the host planet surface . Venus is the most prominent planet, often called the "morning star" or "evening star" because it is brighter than the stars and often the only "star" visible near sunrise or sunset depending on its location in its orbit. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are also visible to the naked eye.