Solar facula

{{Short description|Photospheric phenomenon}}

{{Disputed|Spot, plage/faculae and network definitions|date=December 2023}}

File:Faculae.jpgs and the brighter speckled regions around them are faculae.]]

Solar faculae are bright spots in the photosphere that form in the canyons between solar granules, short-lived convection cells several thousand kilometers across that constantly form and dissipate over timescales of several minutes.

Faculae are produced by concentrations of magnetic field lines. Strong concentrations of faculae appear during increased solar activity, with or without sunspots. Faculae and sunspots contribute noticeably to variations in the solar constant.

The chromospheric counterpart of a facular region is called a plage.{{cite journal |last1=Keller |first1=C. U. |last2=Schssler |first2=M. |last3=Vgler |first3=A. |last4=Zakharov |first4=V. |title=On the Origin of Solar Faculae |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |date=20 May 2004 |volume=607 |issue=1 |pages=L59–L62 |doi=10.1086/421553|doi-access=free |bibcode=2004ApJ...607L..59K }}{{cite journal |last1=Solov'ev |first1=A A |last2=Kirichek |first2=E A |title=Structure of solar faculae |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |date=1 February 2019 |volume=482 |issue=4 |pages=5290–5301 |doi=10.1093/mnras/sty3050|doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Kostyk |first1=R. I. |title=What are solar faculae? |journal=Kinematics and Physics of Celestial Bodies |date=February 2013 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=32–36 |doi=10.3103/S0884591313010030|bibcode=2013KPCB...29...32K }}{{cite journal |last1=Hirzberger |first1=J. |last2=Wiehr |first2=E. |title=Solar limb faculae |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |date=August 2005 |volume=438 |issue=3 |pages=1059–1065 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20052789|doi-access=free |bibcode=2005A&A...438.1059H }}