The large sunspot has grown to 200 thousand kilometers and it does not stop growing.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft has been observing the giant sun AR3664 for more than three days. This larger area of activity is now 15 times larger than our planet and growing.
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The time was created based on three days of observing the surface of the sun and makes it possible to understand how fast the sunspot is growing.
AR3664 has already grown so large that it can be seen from Earth even without special equipment, using only dark glasses to observe the solar eclipse.
Very active explosive processes of energy release (solar flares) and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occur on the sunspot surface. These powerful bursts of energy into space can reach Earth and cause widespread power outages, disrupt radio communications and navigation signals, disable satellites, and cause enhanced aurora displays.
NASA expects high solar activity to continue throughout the weekend of May 11 and 12. They continue to monitor the CME and do not rule out the possibility that multiple flares could combine to form a “cannibal” solar storm.
Sunspots are dark areas on the surface of our star with an unusually powerful magnetic field, which is about 2.5 thousand times stronger than Earth’s. Such spots form regularly on the Sun, but their size is usually no higher than the diameter of the Earth. Observations show that, along with the size of sunspots, their magnetic field increases and the risk of CMEs increases.
Space Weather Observation Site reportedthat AR3664 has already reached the size of a sunspot that caused the “Carrington event” in 1859, or the Solar Superstorm – the most powerful geomagnetic storm in the entire history of observation.
The Carrington Sunspot is famous for releasing a series of intense solar flares and coronal ejections in August and September 1859 and causing powerful geomagnetic storms. As a result, telegraph stations around the world were lit up, and the aurora was visible from Cuba to Hawaii.
What is known about the consequences of the great solar storm on May 11
The giant sunspot AR3664 released today, May 11, at 04:39 Kyiv time, another X-flare – the strongest so far. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a bright ultraviolet flash from an explosion in the X5.8 region. The emission from the blaze caused a deep blackout of shortwave radio communications over the Pacific Ocean. Radio amateurs and sailors may have noticed a loss of signal on frequencies below 30 MHz for an hour after the peak flare.
The aurora was seen on Saturday in Puerto Rico and several US states: Florida, Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Alabama.
Let us remind you that the sun appeared in February 2024 a spot nearly ten times the size of Earth. Meanwhile, sunspot AR3590 did not produce a single large coronal emission.
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2024-05-13 14:25:50
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