A team of NASA-funded scientists recently discovered long-lasting radio signals above sunspots — regions of the Sun’s surface where the magnetic field is so strong that surface temperatures are reduced and surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases, creating dark spots on the solar surface.
The team’s results show the radio signals are emanating from the sunspots in a way similar to that of auroras on Earth. The radio signals were detected around 40,000 kilometers above a sunspot. They are the first of their kind to be observed at the Sun, with previous long-lasting radio signals only being observed on other planets or stars.