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古人认为它们是太阳神脸上生的麻子，抑或太阳内的星辰，现代人猜想它们和UFO以及各种超自然现象密不可分——这种神秘物质就是太阳黑子，它们能量巨大，也会时不时给人类的生活带来麻烦，让我们随本文一起揭开太阳黑子的面纱吧。 The Aztecs[1] thought that their sun god had pockmarks on his face. The ancient Chinese referred to them as stars inside the solar orb. One Renaissance astronomer argued that they were actually undiscovered planets. Today, some believe their appearance is linked to UFO sightings and paranormal activity. Others offer them as an alternative explanation for human-caused climate change. The rest of us wonder if they’re the reason for dropped cell phone calls or static-plagued radio stations. We’re talking about sunspots, those peculiar dark areas that pop up regularly on the surface of the sun. They usually appear in pairs or in groups on either side of the sun’s equator. Sunspots vary tremendously in size, ranging from less than 200 miles across to many times the size of the Earth. Some small sunspots may last for less than an hour, but larger ones can last up to six months. Some sunspots—such as one in 2004 that measured 20 times the size of our planet—are big enough to be seen by the naked eye. Astronomers in ancient China noticed sunspots several thousand years ago. The I-Ching or Book of Changes, which dates back to the 12th century B.C., mentions the phenomenon. The first written record of a sunspot sighting dates to 28 B.C., when it was noted that “the sun was yellow at its rising and a black vapor as large as a coin was observed at its center.” On the other side of the world, the Aztecs, who ruled Mexico before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, also paid a lot of attention to the sun. As we discussed, their creation myth featured a sun god with a pockmarked face. | 
