Home > Cosmic Craziness > Heat Is On: ‘Monster’ Sunspot Could Put Earth In The Crosshairs Of Powerful Solar Storms

Heat Is On: ‘Monster’ Sunspot Could Put Earth In The Crosshairs Of Powerful Solar Storms

05/09/2012 Leave a comment Go to comments

By Ted Thornhill, Mail Online – “A mind-bogglingly big sunspot has appeared in the past few days, which could mean the Earth is about to be blasted by powerful solar storms.

Known as AR 1476, it was spotted by Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft, which launched in 2010.

Its diameter of 60,000 miles is many times that of the Earth, which measures just under 8,000 miles across.

The sunspot is so ginormous that it’s possible to view with home telescopes – though experts warn that these must be fitted with sun filters to prevent permanent eye damage.

In a tweet the SDO mission described the sunspot as a ‘monster’ and predicted that a huge solar flare – or coronal mass ejection – could erupt as a result, meaning the Earth would be hosed by radiation travelling at up to 5million mph.” Read more.

Categories: Cosmic Craziness
  1. the squashbuckler's avatar
    the squashbuckler
    05/10/2012 at 2:03 AM
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    So cal was so hot the other day, the rays were intense. Few plants almost died. It is very hot for this time. I can only wonder what August will bring. I foresee a heavy fire season since the foliage and brush is being dried out right now. Cool beans, good coverage ICA, glad I found this site-blog. GBU guys. JJ-JHS

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