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Credit & Copyright: Franco Fantasia &
Guiseppe Conzo
(Gruppo Astrofili Palidoro)
Explanation:
Right now, one of the largest sunspot groups in recent history is crossing the Sun.
Active
Region 3664
is not only big -- it's violent,
throwing off clouds of particles into the
Solar System.
Some of these
CMEs
are already impacting the Earth, and others might follow.
At the extreme, these solar storms could cause some
Earth-orbiting satellites to malfunction,
the
Earth's atmosphere
to slightly distort, and electrical
power grids to surge.
When impacting
Earth's
upper atmosphere,
these particles can produce beautiful auroras, with some
auroras already being reported
unusually far south.
Pictured here,
AR3664
and its dark
sunspots
were captured yesterday in visible light from
Rome,
Italy.
The AR3664 sunspot group is so large that it is
visible
just with glasses designed to
view
last month's
total solar eclipse.
This weekend, skygazing enthusiasts
will be keenly watching the night skies all over the globe for
bright and
unusual auroras.
Gallery:
Active Region 6443 on the Sun
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: sunspot
Publications with words: sunspot
See also: