BIG SUNSPOT FACES EARTH: The rapid growth of sunspot AR2396 is continuing. Yesterday it was huge. Today it is 50% larger. Astrophotographer “Yvan” sends this picture from Berlare, Belgium:
The growing sunspot group stretches more than 150,000 km from end to end. All by itself, the primary dark core is more than three times the size of Earth. These dimensions make AR2390 an easy target for backyard solar telescopes.
Of even greater interest is the sunspot’s ‘beta-gamma’ magnetic field, which is invisible to the human eye but nevertheless harbors energy for powerful explosions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% to 55% chance of M-class flares this weekend. Any such explosion will surely be geoeffective as the sunspot is directly facing Earth. Solar flare alerts: text or voice.
Fixin to turn up the heat.