According to Space magazine, this peculiar “black hole” is known as a “solar sunspot,” a continuously erupting region surrounding powerful magnetic fields.
This sunspot, named AR3354, appeared only a few days ago and was very small. Just two days ago, you couldn’t even see a tiny dot, but it rapidly expanded within the past 24 hours and is estimated to be seven times the size of Earth by the evening of June 30th (Vietnam time). AR3354 will also vanish from view in the upcoming July 2nd.
A colossal “black spot” has just emerged on the Sun, spanning a width seven times that of Earth – Photo: SDO/NASA
During this weekend, the sunspot is returning towards Earth, so it’s highly likely to unleash such solar flares towards our planet. However, there’s no need to worry about it heading directly towards us during observation, as we hardly sense these explosive events.
These solar flares will impact the planet with geomagnetic storms, occurring when they collide with Earth’s magnetic field lines. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States, starting from July 28th, this sunspot has started releasing flares, mostly of medium size (M-class).
Geomagnetic storms originating from these flares can briefly disrupt shortwave radio signals in certain locations on Earth.
Despite its astonishing size, the data indicates that there won’t be any severe geomagnetic storms accompanied by a powerful coronal mass ejection like the famous Carrington Event of 1859, which could disrupt power grids and cause widespread blackout of shortwave radio communication.
The Carrington Event gained fame for temporarily blinding amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, who unintentionally observed it without using protective eyewear and subsequently had the event named after him. Therefore, the most essential thing when observing the solar sunspot is not to forget the eye protection glasses specifically designed for solar observation.