An “archipelago” of sunspots dangerous for Earthlings has been spotted on the Sun
By ForGeeks One of the largest and most “clumpy” sunspot regions in the past decade — an “archipelago” of sunspots has appeared on the side of the Sun closest to Earth.
The sun has become one of the largest and most “clumpy” sunspot regions in the past decade.
This region began to cause severe solar storms. First came a group of sunspots called AR3490, visible on Nov. 18, 2023. These spots were quickly followed by another group of sunspots, AR3491.
Scientists predicted the appearance of these sunspots by observing “helioseismic tremors,” or ripples on the sun’s surface. As experts note, this sunspot region is “so large that it affects the vibration of the entire Sun.”
These groups of spots later split up and spawned new dark spots such as AR3492, AR3495, AR3496 and AR3497, creating an entire “sunspot archipelago.” According to sources, in total, this huge group of sunspots is about 200,000 kilometers across, 15 times the diameter of the Earth.
According to sources, this huge group of sunspots is about 200,000 kilometers across, 15 times the diameter of the Earth.
They have already produced at least 16 C-class solar flares and 3 M-class flares in the past 4 days. Experts warn that there could be even more such flares in the coming weeks. There is a possibility of class X flares — the strongest. The flares in turn could trigger coronal mass ejections and cause severe geomagnetic storms on Earth, with radio blackouts and bright auroras.
