A bright spot on a planet.

Roget 420: light, ray, beam, stream, gleam, streak, pencil; sunbeam, moonbeam; aurora.    day; sunshine; light of day, light of heaven; moonlight, starlight, sunlight etc. (luminary) 432; daylight, broad daylight, noontide light; noontide, noonday, noonday sun.    glow etc. v.; glimmering etc. v.; glint; play of light, flood of light; phosphorescence, lambent flame.    flush, halo, glory, nimbus, aureola.    spark, scintilla; facula; sparkling etc. v.; emication^†, scintillation, flash, blaze, coruscation, fulguration^†; flame etc. (fire) 382; lightning, levin^†, ignis fatuus [Lat.], etc. (luminary) 423.    luster, sheen, shimmer, reflexion [Brit.], reflection; gloss, tinsel, spangle, brightness, brilliancy, splendor; effulgence, refulgence; fulgor^†, fulgidity^†; dazzlement^†, resplendence, transplendency^†; luminousness etc. adj.; luminosity; lucidity; renitency^†, nitency^†; radiance, radiation; irradiation, illumination.    actinic rays, actinism; Roentgen-ray, Xray; photography, heliography; photometer etc. 445.    [Science of light] optics; photology^†, photometry; dioptrics^†, catoptrics^†.    [Distribution of light] chiaroscuro, clairobscur^†, clear obscure, breadth, light and shade, black and white, tonality.    reflection, refraction, dispersion; refractivity.    ... show more

A large bright spot on the sun's photosphere occurring most frequently in the vicinity of sunspots.

synonym: solar facula.