| Whatever their cause, sunspots are associated with bright patches known as faculae, as well as flares and other huge ejections of solar matter into space. |
| If the faculae loom above the surface, they could radiate light efficiently, thereby boosting the sun's overall brightness, especially during the solar maximum. |
| The extensions of faculae up into the chromosphere become visible over the entire disk in spectroheliograms taken at the wavelengths of hydrogen or ionized calcium vapour. |
| A sunspot always has an associated facula, though faculae may exist apart from such spots. |
| When seen thus away from the limb, they are called chromospheric faculae or plages. |
