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Worldbuilding

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  • $\begingroup$ "If they can be that big then they can be bigger" - Great post, but this doesn't follow. Maybe this is the biggest a star-spot can reasonably get. It's also relevant that the typical lifetime for a star-spot is only a few years. $\endgroup$
    – user2727
    Commented May 22, 2017 at 5:56
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    $\begingroup$ I think I heard the sun changes its spots every 11 years or something, would this big sun spot last any longer than that or is this a short term day-night solution? $\endgroup$
    – FreeElk
    Commented May 22, 2017 at 10:39
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    $\begingroup$ What I took away from reading on star spots is that they are not easy to see and their behaviors on other stars is not well known. @KWeiss re "doesn't follow" - not for a scholarly paper but for a work of fiction something real and big can be made bigger when it is not real. $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Commented May 22, 2017 at 11:43
  • $\begingroup$ @FreeElk The Sun's 11-year sunspot cycle is about the amount of sunspots, not any individual sunspot. It's also not a perfect 11-year cycle; it just happens to peak roughly every 11 years on average (not that we haven't had a double peak cycle just recently). Keep in mind what sunspots are, namely cooler areas of a star's outer layers. (That's illustrated well in the image Will included in the answer.) All else equal, which as we all know it never is, a larger, relatively cool area would probably remain cool for longer than a smaller one. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Commented May 22, 2017 at 17:05