The sun is approaching its explosive peak, known as solar maximum, when it becomes more active and prone to solar storms.
Scientists have observed several signs that solar maximum could arrive earlier and be more powerful than expected. One of these signs is the emergence of a huge sunspot archipelago on the sun’s surface.
Sunspots are dark spots that indicate areas of intense magnetic activity on the Sun. They are often the source of solar flares, which are bursts of light and radiation, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are bursts of plasma and charged particles.
These phenomena can affect Earth’s atmosphere, radio signals, power grids, satellites and space missions.
The first sunspot group, called AR3490, rotated toward the near side of the Sun, above the star’s northeastern shoulder, on November 18. The dark spot was quickly followed by another sunspot group, AR3491, following in its wake. Spaceweather.com reported.
In total, the vast collection of sunspots covers a diameter of about 200,000 kilometers, which is more than 15 times larger than Earth, according to Spaceweather.com.
Scientists are closely monitoring the sunspot archipelago as it rotates along the solar plane. They expect more solar activity from this region in the coming days and weeks.
The sunspot archipelago is one of the largest and most active sunspot groups ever observed, which could indicate that the sun is preparing for its explosive peak.
