Massive sunspot wider than Earth is now aiming directly at us. Is it cause for worry?

It wouldn’t be wrong to call 2024 the year when our star, the gigantic Sun, is having its moment. With immense changes in its solar structure due to the upcoming solar maximum, the internal changes going on with the Sun will soon have an impact on Earth and other planets in the solar system.

Recently, scientists noticed that a hyperactive sunspot, first detected on February 18, is now swelling at a faster rate and is pointed right towards Earth. What does this mean?

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So, sunspots are large areas on the surface of the Sun where the magnetic field is about 2500 times stronger than Earth’s, also much higher than anywhere on the Sun. These spots appear darker than the surrounding area, like the one shown in the picture here.

These sunspots appear where the Sun is most active internally, and their number varies according to the approximately 11-year solar cycle.

Biggest sunspot of 2024 is now pointing directly at Earth

In 2024, the biggest sunspot named AR3590 first appeared on February 18, on the Sun’s Earth-facing side. It quickly started swelling into a dark patch, much wider than our planet.

On February 21, AR3950 spit out a pair of X-class solar flares, which are known as the most powerful type of solar flare, with magnitudes of X1.7 and X1.8.

On February 22, the same sunspot released a massive X6.3 flare, the most powerful solar explosion recorded in over six years.

All three flares caused temporary radio blackouts on Earth, but none of them launched coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are clouds of magnetised plasma that can ram into Earth's magnetic shield as they fly through space.

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If any of these explosions had launched a CME at Earth, the resulting plasma clouds could have triggered severe geomagnetic storm disturbances in Earth's magnetic field that can trigger solar radiation to impact ground-based infrastructure, trigger stunning aurora displays and cause satellites to tumble back to Earth.

Since the triple X-class flares, AR3590 has continued to grow, almost doubling in size. It is now one of the largest sunspots of the current solar cycle, which began in 2019, Spaceweather.com reported.

According to Spaceweather.com, initial expectations of intensified solar activity in the sunspot's magnetic field, potentially leading to X-class solar eruptions, have yet to materialise. Instead, there have been only a few minor M-class flares observed since the triple flares occurred. This indicates the possibility of the sunspot accumulating energy for a larger eruption.

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Spaceweather.com notes that the immense sunspot is presently oriented in a manner that aligns it closely with Earth. Consequently, should another substantial X-class flare occur, there is a heightened risk of our planet being directly affected by associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

Though AR3590 is not large enough to trigger a dangerous type of solar storm, even if it released a CME that was half as powerful, it could still cause serious problems. And there is a high possibility of this happening in reality.

(With inputs from agencies)