A 75,000-mile wide
hole has opened up
on the sun
A huge hole has emerged on the surface
of the sun and
it could actually affect us here on Earth.
It is 74,560 miles wide and can actually be
seen from Earth (if you’ve got a powerful enough
telescope and a very good solar filter, so don’t
try looking for it with your binoculars).
In a worst-case scenario that could mean
communications satellites could be knocked
out and it could cause radiation storms. It could
also affect power grids leading to electricity
shortages in some areas.It has been called
AR2665 and is capable of producing solar
flares that could cause radio blackouts on our
home planet.
The storm has been monitored by Nasa’s Solar
Dynamics Observatory over the last week.
The space agency said: ‘A new sunspot group
has rotated into view and seems to be growing
rather quickly.
‘It is the first sunspot to appear after the sun
was spotless for two days, and it is the only
sunspot group on the sun at this moment.
‘It could be the source for some solar flares,
but it is too early to predict just what it will do.’
They added: ‘Like freckles on the face of
the sun, they appear to be small features,
but size is relative: The dark core of this
sunspot is actually larger than Earth.’
What are sunspots?
Sunspots are cooler areas on the sun, caused
by interactions with the sun’s magnetic field.
They tend to appear in regions of intense magnetic
activity, and when that energy is released,
solar flares and huge storms erupt from sunspots.
Such a storm could create stunning auroras
around the world, as well as play havoc
with power grids, potentially causing
blackouts in some areas.
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