A new image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory reveals seven Earth-sized black areas on the Sun that could soon be bombarded with solar flares. Scientists refer to the collection of these dark spots as a “solar archipelago.”
According to Spaceweather.com, the cluster spans 200,000 kilometers and is more than 15 times broader than Earth, influencing how the entire Sun vibrates. Sunspots seem dark because they are cooler than other portions of the sun (but they are still incredibly hot at over 6,500 F).
Regardless of whether we can see the dark patches, sunspots can produce powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that can collide with Earth and cause potentially dangerous geomagnetic storms. This implies that we can be caught off guard by extreme space weather events.
The massive clouds of electrified gas travel at hundreds of miles per second and have the potential to disrupt power systems, communications, GPS navigation, air transport, and satellites. The sole bright spot is the spectacular auroras that occur at Earth’s poles.
Since first detecting the sunspot group AR3490 and associated cracking flares, Earth-orbiting satellites have already recorded three M-class flares and roughly a dozen C-class flares.
How do solar flares and sunspots form according to Solar Dynamics?
Solar activity follows a predictable pattern, with peaks and valleys every 11 years. The magnetic field of the Sun drives these cycles, known as solar maximum and solar minimum.
We are now in Solar Cycle 25, which is anticipated to end in July 2025. However, this cycle has produced more activity than NASA and NOAA predicted, with the official projection of roughly 115 sunspots at the peak.
Scientists aren’t clear why the Sun has been more active than expected, and additional observations are needed to enhance future predictions and gain a better knowledge of the Sun’s fundamental processes.
Aside from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover takes daily photographs of the Sun with its Mastcam-Z camera system. While the primary goal is to measure the amount of dust in the Martian atmosphere, the camera can also photograph sunspots. The rover detects these sunspots early because Mars orbits the Sun’s far side, giving it a week’s head start over Earth.