A series of giant sunspots have recently appeared on the surface of the sun. One doubled in size overnight. Two huge sunspot groups on the surface of the sun. National Astronomical Observatory, Langkawi, Malaysia/MYSA/MOSTI A series of huge sunspots have recently appeared on the

2024/04/1621:49:33 science 1292

A series of huge sunspots have recently appeared on the surface of the sun. One doubled in size overnight.

A series of giant sunspots have recently appeared on the surface of the sun. One doubled in size overnight. Two huge sunspot groups on the surface of the sun. National Astronomical Observatory, Langkawi, Malaysia/MYSA/MOSTI A series of huge sunspots have recently appeared on the  - DayDayNews

Two huge sunspot groups on the surface of the sun. National Astronomical Observatory of Langkawi, Malaysia / MYSA / MOSTI

A series of huge sunspots have recently appeared on the surface of the sun. One of the sunspots, numbered AR3038, doubled in size within 24 hours, attracting attention.

Sunspots are dark spots on the surface of the sun, which are gathering points of strong magnetic fields. They are usually no larger than one Earth, and the size of AR3038 is equivalent to 2.9 Earths. Researchers say AR3038 has an unstable magnetic field and is currently heading toward Earth.

Sunspots will trigger flares, and flares will produce very powerful X-rays and ultraviolet rays, which can ionize the earth's upper atmosphere, making it unable to reflect high-frequency radio waves, thus causing the interruption of radio communications. Sunspots can also trigger coronal mass ejections. When these materials enter the earth's magnetic field, they can trigger geomagnetic storms.

The largest solar storm in history occurred in 1859, also known as the "Carrington Event". At that time, the sun released a total amount of energy equivalent to about 10 billion megaton nuclear bombs, causing the global telegraph system to be paralyzed. The auroras produced were brighter than the full moon and could be seen in the Caribbean Sea. If the same incident happens again today, it may cause greater damage, because today we rely more on network communication .

Fortunately, researchers said that the flare caused by AR3038 may only be the most common M class, with medium power, and at most it will cause bipolar communication to be blocked. The most powerful flares are Class X, which can cause the complete interruption of high-frequency radio communications on the side of the Earth facing the sun. But X-class flares are very rare. And as the sun rotates, these sunspots will gradually move behind the sun and lose their influence on the earth.

Solar activity has an ups and downs cycle of about 11 years. The sun's activity has recently shown some unusual tendencies, being more active than expected. The number of sunspots currently appearing on the surface of the sun is twice the theoretical prediction.

Reference
’No need to panic’ as sunspot with potential for solar flares doubles in size overnight, scientists say
https://phys.org/news/2022-06-panic-sunspot-potential-solar-flares.html

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