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.
Sunspot AR 1476: It can be seen in the upper left of this picture - and could unleash gigantic solar flares
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.
Sunspots often travel in pairs and are darker than the surrounding area because they are slightly cooler, which makes them less luminous.
They are caused by the sun’s magnetic field becoming twisted – and it’s this twisting dynamic that can produce coronal mass ejections.
These contain billions of tons of gases bursting with X-rays and ultraviolet radiation.
They are mind-bogglingly hot – around 100,000,000C.
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