Janis Bodkin, age 12, of Wellington, Kansas, .for her question:

Do they know what causes sunspots?

Sunspots have been blamed for wars and plagues, but these charges cannot be proved. Scientists, however, can prove that sunspots cause auroras and radio blackouts, though it is harder to prove what causes the sunspots. A recent theory might give us at last the true explanation of what causes the sun's spotty complexion   but the theory is very complicated.

Spotting sunspots was started by Galileo in 1612. Since then, they have been observed and often diagnosed. We know many facts about them and several theories have been suggested to explain why the sun gets these dark rashes.

We know, for example, that the spots form within wide belts north and south of the solar equator. Each sunspot is a center of magnetic force, perhaps 8,000 times greater than the magnetic field around our entire planet. There is a sunspot cycle which starts with a few pimples and builds up to an outburst of blotchy rashes. The cycle repeats after about 11 years.

The magnetic force in a sunspot is the same as that in a toy magnet but on a much grander scale. It has opposite north and south poles of positive and negative force. Sunspots tend to form in pairs, one with negative and one with positive polarity. The twins are often side by side, parallel with the equator and they rotate with the sun from west to east.

For about 11 years, every westside twin north of the equator is negative and its partner is positive while south of the equator the twin poles are reversed. Then there is a flipflop. The westside spouts north of the equator become positive and the entire polarity picture is reversed.

In 1961, a new theory was suggested which might    explain all these facts.

A pair of sunspots, with their opposite poles, could be the surface symptoms of a magnet perhaps 60 miles deep. A deep magnetic field might be generated by the sums strange rotation, which is much faster at the equator. Here, the gaseous material is disrupted at a deep level and pulled far ahead of the material at the poles. Lines of magnetic„ force may be drawn deep into the sun and cause twin spots on the surface. After about 11 years, the faster moving gases near the equator has come full circle. The tension between the poles and the equator lessens and the sunspot cycle subsides.

The trade winds blowing toward our equator are twisted to the northeast and southeast because the earth is a spinning sphere: The sun too is a spinning sphere, twisting the lines of magnetic force into spirals. This might be part of the reason why the sunspots have opposite poles. But in addition to these complications, the entire sun flip flops its magnetic poles. Every 11 years or so, its north and south magnetic poles switch their roles .. and so far no one has been able to explain why, or even suggest a theory.