NASA Spotlight: The return of dangerous sunspots is the image of the day

Sunspot AR3664 survived a full trip around the Sun and returned, raising concerns for scientists

The great sunspot that produced the the largest geomagnetic storm since 2003 is back and scientists will be tracking it in detail over the next few weeks. The attention towards this event is demonstrated by the choice of NASA to highlight sunspot images on your website Astronomical picture of the day (APOD).

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Responsible for the reddish polar auroras in different regions of the planet, the sunspot (or rather, region of Sunspots) AR3664 returned to the visible side of the Sun. That means it survived more than one full rotation of our star.

When first observed, the region was not very large, although it had beta-gamma-delta magnetic complexity. In other words, it already had the potential to emit type X explosions, the most powerful of the classification used by scientists.

NASA reported the return of the spot on its APOD website, with images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory probe. The video shows that AR3664 has already emitted a new glow while it was still emerging on the star’s left edge.

With measurements of the new sunspot eruption, the event received a classification of X2.8. Even though it falls into the category of louder explosions, it doesn’t compare to that the largest eruptions seen in recent days. On the other hand, this does not imply safety when dealing with geomagnetic storms.

Sunspots travel across the Sun for just over a week, but can break up before completing their rotation. All that remains is to wait and observe the behavior of the AR3664 in the next few days.

Source: APOD

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Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.