Pair Of Sunspots Twice As Big As Earth Could Disrupt Communications

Scientists have detected a sunspot that’s pointed directly at Earth and could launch an assault of solar energy our way. Named AR3085 for the "active region" of the sun in which it appeared, it was barely a blip several days ago.

Photo Insert: Sunspots are large, dark regions of strong magnetic fields that form on the sun's surface.

Now, it has grown 10 times bigger, morphing into a pair of sunspots that each measure nearly the diameter of Earth, SpaceWeather.com said, Brandon Specktor reported for Live Science.

A number of solar flares — large explosions of electromagnetic radiation that snap off from the sun's surface and launch outward into space— have been detected "crackling" around the spot, according to SpaceWeather.

Fortunately, they are all currently C-class flares, which fit into the weakest of the three tiers of solar flares that government satellites track. A-, B- and C-class flares are generally too weak to have a noticeable impact on Earth.

M-class flares are stronger, and capable of causing radio blackouts at high latitudes, while X-class flares are the strongest and can cause widespread radio blackouts, damage satellites, and knock out ground-based power grids, according to NASA.

If the spots continue to grow over the coming days, they could produce stronger flares that could barrel toward Earth, potentially endangering satellites and communication systems. For now, however, there is no imminent danger.

Sunspots are large, dark regions of strong magnetic fields that form on the sun's surface. These regions — which typically measure as wide as planets — appear darker because they are cooler than their surroundings, according to Live Science's sister site Space.com.

They form where bands of the sun's magnetic field become tangled and taut, inhibiting the flow of hot gas from the sun's interior and forming cooler, darker regions on the sun's surface.

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