Sunspot observations. Drawing of a sunspot observed by John Herschel (1792-1871) on 25 May 1837 from the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Herschel worked in South Africa from 1834 to 1838, and made a series of 176 diagrams of sunspots from December 1836 to October 1837. He published these on his return to England. This diagram is notable for his observation of the striated penumbra (outer area) of the sunspot (lower right). John Herschel was the son of William Herschel, who in 1801 had published a paper pointing out the effects the Sun's activity, as measured by its sunspots, can have on the Earth's climate. For observations of Halley's comet that Herschel also made from South Africa, see V700/162.