Cluster of Sunspots 15 Times the Earth’s Size May Send Solar Storm This Weekend

A dozen massive sunspots have been spotted, and NASA warns that they might bring a geomagnetic storm to Earth this weekend.

Cluster of Sunspot To Bring Solar Storm

A group of sunspots has moved into view of Earth, and as early as this Saturday, a solar storm might hit. Sunspots are black areas with a high magnetic field on the sun's surface. They can create coronal mass ejections (CMEs), massive plasma clouds that are quickly shot out of the sun.

The cluster is made up of over a dozen sunspots that are roughly 125,000 miles wide or roughly 15 times larger than our globe. Due to their size and strength, experts warned it could bring geomagnetic storms. The cluster of sunspots is active and has already released three M-class and many C-class solar flares before coming into sight.

M-class flares are eruptions of a moderate size. The European Space Agency states that they have the potential to produce momentary radio blackouts when directed toward Earth. On the other hand, C-class solar flares are small and barely affect Earth when they strike.

"The spots are fairly big and complex, which suggests they're likely to produce some space weather," said Matt Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading. "Sometimes huge spots produce a tonne of activity before and after they pass Earth, but nothing at that critical time when they're pointed right at us."

According to Daniel Verscharen, an associate professor of space and climate physics at University College London, space-weather specialists will closely monitor the cluster as it aligns with Earth.

Per Verscharen, if the cluster unleashes a mass ejection, the European Space Agency simulations using the EUHFORIA computer code indicate that it might reach Earth as early as Saturday evening ET or just after midnight Sunday morning.

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NASA Warns About 'Perfect' Storm

A possible collision between CME and Earth could happen late Saturday. Over the last week, there has been a tenfold rise in sunspot numbers, and daily launches of several CMEs have occurred.

A NASA model suggests that one of these CMEs may be headed toward Earth and might arrive this weekend. Scientists will verify this once they have examined the storms' routes.

A geomagnetic storm is an interference of the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere by the solar plasma and can be brought on by a CME striking the planet.

"A geomagnetic storm occurs when the Earth's magnetic field is seriously disrupted by eruptions from the sun," per Huw Morgan, head of the Solar Physics group at Aberystwyth University in the U.K. "When a large plasma storm erupts from the sun, and that storm carries a magnetic field which is oriented in the opposite direction to Earth's magnetic field, we have a 'perfect storm,' and a larger geomagnetic storm."

Geomagnetic storms range in intensity from G1 (small) to G5 (severe) depending on the strength of the CME that generated them, according to NOAA. The strongest storms are also the least frequent. During an 11-year solar cycle, there may be 1700 G1 (minor) storms but only 100 G4 and 4 G5 (extreme) storms.