An “archipelago of spots” 15 times wider than Earth has appeared on the Sun: it can cause magnetic storms
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The area with the largest number of sunspots in the last decade appeared on the Sun. It is located on the side facing the Earth and has already become the cause of many outbreaks.
Specialists of the space weather tracking portal Spaceweather note that in the coming weeks our planet will be under the “eyesight of an archipelago of spots”, which can lead to magnetic storms, according to Live Science.
Scientists named the first group of sunspots AR3490. It returned to the side of the Sun closest to the Earth on November 18. Immediately after it, another group appeared, named AR3491.
Scientists already knew about the existence of dark spots in this area and monitored “helioseismic tremors” or ripples on the solar surface in this area. Scientists say: the area of sunspots is so large that it affects the vibration of the entire Sun.
| Photo: NASA/SDO/HMI |
Since it became known about the appearance of groups of spots, they have split and formed new ones – AR3492, AR3495, AR3496 and AR3497. Spots with these names have united into an “archipelago”.
Researchers say that the diameter of the group of spots is about 200 thousand kilometers, which is more than 15 times the width of the Earth.
According to the Space Weather Tracking Portal, the spots have already produced at least 16 C-class flares and three M-class flares in the past four days. These are the second and third most powerful flashes.
Experts predict that in the coming days they will not only increase – they may become more powerful. Spots have the potential to cause even Class X flares.
They can be accompanied by coronal mass ejections, which can cause strong geomagnetic storms, causing radio communication to be cut off and bright auroras to appear.
Astronomers also spotted several large loops of plasma, known as solar bulges, rising above some of the group’s sunspots. According to the EarthSky resource, the largest of them rise to a height of 64 thousand kilometers above the surface and can break off and fly into space at any moment, temporarily leaving huge “fiery canyons” on the surface of the Sun in their place.
We will remind you that earlier we wrote that scientists showed what the surface of the Sun looks like.
Read also: “Ring of Fire”: An annular solar eclipse was observed around the world. PHOTO
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