Earth Alert: Huge Sunspot Opens On Sun As Scientists Brace For Solar Flares

Sunspots are holes in the Sun’s outer atmosphere which allow a stream of particles and solar flares to depart from the surface.

This can be a problem for Earth if the cosmic particles hit because they can cause our atmosphere to expands and essentially make satellite technology redundant.

Since yesterday, scientists have said the sunspot appeared and grew astonishingly quickly.

The website Space Weather states: “Yesterday, sunspot AR2715 did not exist. Today, it sprawls across more than 60,000 km of solar surface with a primary dark core twice as wide as Earth.

“The dimensions of the fast-growing sunspot group make it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes and a potential source of solar flares. Monitoring is encouraged.”

Solar flares unleash winds which can pummel the Earth.

For the most part, the Earth’s magnetic field protects humans from the barrage of radiation that comes with solar storms, but they can affect satellite-based technology.

Solar winds can heat the Earth’s outer atmosphere, causing it to expand.

This can affect satellites in orbit, potentially leading to a lack of GPS navigation, mobile phone signal and satellite TV such as Sky.

Additionally, a surge of particles can lead to high currents in the magnetosphere, which can lead to higher than normal electricity in power lines, resulting in electrical transformers and power stations blowouts and a loss of power.

The higher amounts of radiation also leave people vulnerable to cancer.

However, solar storms can result in Southern or Northern Lights – or aurora australis and aurora borealis – depending on which hemisphere the solar winds hit.

As the magnetosphere gets bombarded by solar winds, stunning blue lights can appear over the upper reaches of the Northern hemisphere and the lower parts of the southern hemisphere.

Read more at Daily Express