Sarah Hampton, age 12, of Safford, Arizona, for her question:

Can sunspots be seen with the naked eye?

This question made Andy's hair stand on end like the quills of a porcupine. Certianly the wonders of space are fascinating and important. But items of human safety are far more important, important enough to be called vital. Our blazing sun is too brilliant for human eyes to behold without safety precautions. Its intense light can damage the retina screens of the eyes and cause permanent loss of sight. The thought of a young observer studying the dazzling details of the sun gave Andy goose pimples as well as porcupine quills. The eyes may be dazzled for awhile from staring directly at the sun even on cloudy days or low in the sky at dawn and sunset.

This safety factor comes first. We cannot see sunspots with the naked eye because we dare not, dare not look directly at the face of our starry sun. Astronomers, however, can project an image of the sun on a screen. And on this image, sunspots and even many finer details can be observed safely. A sunspot is a darker blotch on the dazzling surface and the contrast is outstanding. It may be thousands of times bigger than the earth and, after all, the sun is only 400 times farther from us than the moon.