... AR1520: Islands in the Photosphere . ... Credit Copyright: Alan Friedman ( Averted Imagination ) Explanation: Awash in a sea of plasma and anchored in magnetic fields , sunspots are planet-sized, dark islands in the solar photosphere , the bright surface of the Sun. ... They lie in the center of active region AR1520, now crossing the Sun's visible face. ... Publications with keywords: active region . Publications with words: active region . ... Active Region 1002 on an Unusually Quiet Sun . ...