Sunspot Region AR3664 Has Grown 15 Times the Earth’s Diameter As It Releases Powerful Solar Flares, Might Be Visible Using Eclipse Glasses

AR3664, a colossal sunspot region, has grown bigger in the past few days. According to a new report, it has grown much bigger, over 10 times the diameter of Earth.

Sunspot AR3664 Has Grown 15 Times of Earth's Diameter

The sunspot region AR3664 has grown roughly 124,300 miles (200,000 kilometers) wide -- more than 15 times the Earth's diameter. A recent time-lapse film featuring imagery from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite shows this remarkable evolution.

Furthermore, AR3664 is massive and active, continuing to flare up intense solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), some of which may strike Earth this weekend and intensify aurora activity. There have been several sightings of aurora borealis worldwide. The beautiful and colorful lights lit up the skies across Europe, New Zealand and the United States, farther south than usual.

Another intriguing detail about AR3664 is that it is almost the same size as the sunspot associated with the 1859 Carrington event, which was the strongest geomagnetic storm to ever be recorded on Earth. The Space Weather Prediction Center at NOAA is keeping a watchful eye on the expanding region in order to track any new developments. Scientists predict that solar activity will continue to rise through Mother's Day weekend.

They believed that the sunspot could release more flares and CMEs. Furthermore, due to its size, AR3664 may potentially be visible without the need for binoculars or a telescope. However, if you do try, make sure to wear eye protection, such as the eclipse glasses you wore to witness the incredible total solar eclipse last month.

Carrington Event Explained

Just before the solar maximum of 1860, at the beginning of September 1859, there was a major solar storm known as the Carrington Event. When sunspots began to expand on the solar disk in August of 1859, astronomers all around the world became fascinated by this phenomenon.

Richard Carrington, an amateur astronomer from Redhill, an English village near London, was one of them. On Sept. 1, 1859, Carrington was drawing the sunspots when he was suddenly blinded by a flash of light. It took about five minutes and Carrington referred to it as a "white light flare."

However, the day after Carrington witnessed the spectacular flare, Earth was hit by an extraordinary geomagnetic storm that brought down telegraph networks and allowed viewers to see auroral displays in the tropics, which are normally only observable at polar latitudes.

The telegraph operators said they received electric shocks when they handled the machinery. A spontaneous fire started in the telegraph paper, causing some disconnected equipment to come on.

Given how dependent the globe is on satellites and wireless technology, the devastation from a similar catastrophe today would be 10 times greater.

Check out more news and information on Solar Flares in Science Times.