A terrifying sunspot can combine with another and throw the sun’s rays towards Earth! Here’s what you need to know.
Solar activity is nearing its peak as the Sun is in the middle of its 11-year cycle, resulting in increased solar energy production. Our planet has been within range of solar flares, solar storms, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and more for a long time, and more to be expected when the Sun move forward in its cycle. While these solar activity may seem harmless due to the distance from the Sun to our planet, they can cause great damage.
Now, scientists are constantly observing increasing activity at a Sunspot called AR3157, on the surface of the Sun. It has been observed emitting plumes of smoke into space, according to a report by spaceweather.com. The report says, “The new sunspot AR3157 doesn’t look like much, but it’s very active, almost continuously hurling plasma plumes into space.”
This growing sunspot, if combined with another nearby sunspot, could cause an explosion and send powerful rays of sunlight towards the planet. “Magnetically, sunspot AR3157 is connected to the nearby sunspot AR3156. If one explodes, it can trigger an explosion in the other, increasing the likelihood of an explosion significantly,” the report added.
What is a Sunspot?
Based on NASASunspots are dark areas on the Sun’s surface that contain a strong magnetic field that is constantly shifting and can form and then dissipate over a period of days or weeks. They occur when a strong magnetic field penetrates the sun’s surface and allows the area to cool slightly.
What are solar flares?
According to NASA, solar flares are flares of photons emitted by the Sun. Sun which migrated from the outbreak site. They are ranked alphabetically depending on their intensity with ‘A’ being the least intense and ‘X’ being the most dangerous. Solar flares are caused by Coronal Mass Eruptions (CMEs) on the Sun’s surface sending charged photons towards Earth.
However, not all solar flares impact Earth. In fact, these flares only impact the planet when they originate from the side of the sun facing Earth.
