facula

fac·u·la  (fky-l)

n. pl. fac·u·lae (-l)

Any of various large bright spots or veined patches on the sun's photosphere, usually near sunspots.

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[Latin, small torch, diminutive of fax, fac-, torch.]

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facula [ˈfækjʊlə]

n pl -lae [-ˌliː]

(Astronomy) any of the bright areas on the sun's surface, usually appearing just before a sunspot and subject to the same 11-year cycle

[from Latin: little torch, from fax torch]

facular  adj

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facula  (fky-l)

Plural faculae (fky-l)

A bright, cloudlike structure on the Sun's surface, ascending several hundred kilometers above the photosphere and often associated with sunspots. Faculae are formed when a strong magnetic field heats a region of the photosphere to higher temperatures than the surrounding area. They occur all over the Sun but are usually only visible near the limb (the outer edge of the Sun's apparent disk), where the photosphere appears dimmer than in the center.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	facula - a bright spot on a planet maculation, patch, speckle, dapple, fleck, spot - a small contrasting part of something; "a bald spot"; "a leopard's spots"; "a patch of clouds"; "patches of thin ice"; "a fleck of red"
	2.	facula - a large bright spot on the sun's photosphere occurring most frequently in the vicinity of sunspots maculation, patch, speckle, dapple, fleck, spot - a small contrasting part of something; "a bald spot"; "a leopard's spots"; "a patch of clouds"; "patches of thin ice"; "a fleck of red"