Happy New Year/Solar observation

[Jnicholes]

Happy New Year!

I was going through Solar picture I took, and I learned something VERY interesting.

I have three pictures of the same sunspot group, AR2916. One was taken on 12/26/2021. The next was taken on 12/31/2021. The most recent one was taken today, 01/01/2022.

Here is an edited picture. I put the sunspots next to each other in a line, and labeled the dates.

As you can see, the sunspot group is shrinking. Why is the group shrinking? My only theory is that the group is deteriorating, which leads me to believe that sunspots in general form, then they eventually disappear completely.

What do you guys think? Why do you think the group is shrinking?

I am just curious what others think about this.

Jared

[Altocumulus]

https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2 ... 621-21.pdf