Sunspot Grows to 20 Times Size of Earth [with latest images]

I don't think this has been posted before, but it really does look interesting (and it's from Space.com, not some bizarre doomsday forum)

Sunspot Grows to 20 Times Size of Earth
A sunspot group aimed squarely at Earth has grown to 20 times the size of our planet and has the potential to unleash a major solar storm.

The amorphous mix of spots, together called Number 652, has been rotating across the Sun and growing for several days. On Friday, it sat at the center of the solar disk.

The Sun's last bout of intense storminess occurred last fall, when a string of 10 major flares over two weeks knocked out satellites, damaged others, and forced the FAA to reroute airlines away from exposed polar routes.

No one can say if this sunspot group will let loose with a major storm, but it has the characteristics of a potentially big event.

"The implications of this spot have scientists on the edge of their seats," NASA said in a statement Friday. "If the active region generates coronal mass ejections (CMEs), massive explosions with a potential force of a billion megaton bombs, it will be a fairly direct hit to Earth and its satellites and power grids."

This sunspot group can be viewed on Earth without even the aid of a telescope.

Here is the latest image of sunspot group

And here is a color picture, always updated, showing the sun, you can clearly see the massive sunspot group facing us with the brightest areas indicating strong magnetic fields.


So what do you guys think of this?

[edit on 24-7-2004 by rangeroftheeast]

[edit on 24-7-2004 by rangeroftheeast]

Well if it does erupt we'll be in for a great light show in the sky.

link not working that makes me sad

I have been watching this spot on the sun for almost a week now. Never knew what it was. But it looks pretty significant! Hopefully the sun will be there tommorow?

Originally posted by TheWindowGuy
I have been watching this spot on the sun for almost a week now. Never knew what it was. But it looks pretty significant! Hopefully the sun will be there tommorow?

It's 6:13 in the morning in the UK. I can confirm that the sun has risen again today.

Originally posted by TheWindowGuy
But it looks pretty significant! Hopefully the sun will be there tommorow?

It doesn't blow up sun... or if it does then sun not being there anymore is smallest of your worries.

www.spaceweather.com...
NOAA Space weather now
Costello geomagnetic activity
Actually looks good:
sec.noaa.gov...

Just if it would be more darker at nights here in Finland!

Wow, take a look at the latest image now. There sure is a lot of magnetic activity going on...

Look like a massive wave in the center to the left of the sunspot in the other pic's I have seen I never noticed anything like that has anyone else?

Maybe some of these sun spots are caused by impacts. The video of them does not look that different than the marks that comet(shoemaker-levy or something similar) left on Jupiter.

OMG! I had a really wierd dream about the sun last night and i remember seeing the sun almost exactly the same as it is one of the pictures here! That is so wierd i just been looking through some of the links in this space exploration part today then i find this is happening! And i had the dream last night! Deja-vu! Im going to research more on this as i have a bad feeling about this one... also we've been having thunder storms in the last couple of nights over where i am and it just seems more hotter than usual but not in a nice blue sky nice way....just very humid and wet.
mmm very strange just looked on www.spaceweather.com... and there is a probabilty of a medium size (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24/48 hours.

Now there are 3 classes

There are 3 categories: X-class flares are big; they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized; they generally cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.

Im going to keep an eye on this for the next few days let me know if anyone else knows anything else about this sort of thing and post any news regarding this.

*Looks at the Sun*

Ahhh... my eyes.

Sorry, I haven't slept in a while.

Really interesting tho.