Significant concerns raised by large sunspot facing Earth

CHENNAI: NASA scientists are keeping a watchful eye on the enormous sunspot AR3038, which has doubled in size during the past 24 hours.

On the Sun, sunspots are a frequent occurrence. Scientists are concerned about the speed at which the AR3038 is growing.

Sunspots are portions of the Sun's surface that are darker and colder than the surrounding areas. They release strong radiation blasts.

These form over regions with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields, which makes them very cold.

In fact, the magnetic fields are so powerful that they even keep heat from reaching the sunspot's surface, giving it a dark appearance.

The dangerous region of the rapidly expanding sunspot immediately confronts Earth and, should it erupt, might unleash solar flares in our direction.

These flares could harm radio communication networks and navigational equipment. Notably, there haven't been any recent solar flare warnings.

Flares have recently been responsible for widespread outages, but this is the first time that the peak of solar activity is approaching when thousands of new satellites are in space.

Looking on the bright side of such an event that is beyond man’s control , all of this solar activity increases the likelihood of viewing some amazing auroras, especially at higher latitudes.