Sunspot

Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as dark spots compared to surrounding regions. They correspond to concentrations of magnetic field flux that inhibit convection and result in reduced surface temperature compared to the surrounding photosphere. Sunspots usually appear in pairs, with pair members of opposite magnetic polarity. The number of sunspots varies according to the approximately 11-year solar cycle.

Individual sunspots may endure anywhere from a few days to a few months, but eventually decay. Sunspots expand and contract as they move across the surface of the Sun with a size ranging from 16 kilometers (10 mi) to 160,000 kilometers (100,000 mi) in diameter. The larger variety are visible from Earth without the aid of a telescope. They may travel at relative speeds, or proper motions of a few hundred meters per second when they first emerge.

Indicating intense magnetic activity, sunspots accompany secondary phenomena such as coronal loops (prominences) and reconnection events. Most solar flares and coronal mass ejections originate in magnetically active regions around visible sunspot groupings. Similar phenomena indirectly observed on stars other than the sun are commonly called starspots and both light and dark spots have been measured.

SA

Sa, SA or S.A. may refer to:

Arts, media and entertainment

Music

Computing, networking and communications

Language and writing

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a 2014 American superhero film based on the fictional X-Men characters that appear in Marvel Comics. Directed by Bryan Singer, it is the seventh installment of the X-Men film series and acts as a sequel to both 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand and 2011's X-Men: First Class. The story, inspired by the 1981 Uncanny X-Men storyline "Days of Future Past" by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, focuses on two time periods, with Wolverine traveling back in time to 1973 to save the future of mankind. The film features an ensemble cast, including Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen, and Patrick Stewart. Simon Kinberg wrote the screenplay from a story conceived by himself, Matthew Vaughn, and Jane Goldman.

The film had a budget of US$200 million. Principal photography began in Montreal, Quebec in April 2013 and concluded in August the same year, with additional filming and pick-ups taking place in November 2013 and February 2014. The film premiered in New York City on May 10, 2014, and was theatrically released on May 23.

Future Past

Future Past is the debut and only solo studio album to be released by former Blue singer, Duncan James.

Background

James' solo career began in October 2004, when he collaborated with singer-songwriter Keedie on the single "I Believe My Heart", which was a number-two hit on the UK Singles Chart. Shortly after, James began recording a solo album, with the help of producer Stephen Lipson, who had collaborated with the likes of Boyzone, Ronan Keating, Daniel Bedingfield and Will Young. The album was released on 12 June 2006, a week after the release of the lead single, "Sooner or Later", which only peaked at #35 on the UK Singles Chart. Upon the week of release, the album only peaked at #55 on the UK Albums Chart. In an attempt to boost sales, "Can't Stop A River" was released as the album's second single on 21 August 2006 but this charted even lower than "Sooner or Later", only peaking at #59 on the UK Singles Chart.

It was heavily speculated at the time that James would be dropped from the label, until January 2007, when the music video for the album's third single, "Amazed", premiered on music channels throughout Europe. However, once again, the single's release failed to gain interest from the media and fans alike, and the single's release was cancelled in the United Kingdom, becoming a German-only release. Overall, the album sold less than 15,000 copies in the United Kingdom, and less than 150,000 copies worldwide. However, it found success in Italy, peaking at #2 on the Italian Albums Chart, for sales of more than 80,000 copies.

Days of Future Past

"Days of Future Past" is a storyline in the Marvel Comics comic book The Uncanny X-Men issues #141–142, published in 1981. It deals with a dystopian future in which mutants are incarcerated in internment camps. An adult Kate Pryde transfers her mind into her younger self, the present-day Kitty Pryde, who brings the X-Men to prevent a fatal moment in history that triggers anti-mutant hysteria.

The storyline was produced during the franchise's rise to popularity under the writer/artist team of Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin. The dark future seen in the story has been revisited numerous times, and was adapted into the 2014 feature film X-Men: Days of Future Past. In 2001, fans voted the first issue of this storyline the 25th greatest Marvel comic.

The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 gave the numerical designation for the original "Days of Future Past" timeline as Earth-811 in the Marvel Multiverse.

Plot

The storyline alternates between the present year of 1980 and the future year of 2013. In the future, Sentinels rule a dystopian United States, and mutants are hunted and placed in internment camps. Having conquered North America and hunted all mutants and other superhumans, the Sentinels are turning their attention to the rest of the world. On the eve of a feared nuclear holocaust, the few remaining X-Men send Kitty Pryde's mind backward through time, to possess the body of her younger self and to prevent a pivotal event in mutant–human history and the cause of these events: the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly by Mystique's newly reassembled Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.