The Sun has become quite violent due to its solar cycle 29. Therefore, the Earth is in for a rough ride until then. Just days after erratic solar activity caused radio outages over the Americas due to an unstable sunspot, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has observed yet another new sunspot emitting dangerous M-class solar flares, as reported by spaceweather.com .
According to the report, a new sunspot on the solar surface has been observed. The sunspot, called AR3242, emits dangerous M-Class Solar Flares. M-class flares are medium-sized flares, but they can cause short-term radio blackouts.
The new sunspot was observed by David Leong in Singapore, who pointed the telescope at the sun’s surface and saw an explosion. Leong told spaceweather.com, “AR3242 was already flaring when I started shooting at 5:11 UT. The unusually dark filaments kept changing shape minute by minute on my computer screen. It was an hour of wonder and excitement.”
This is particularly dangerous as sunspot AR3242 slowly rotates and faces Earth.
Cracks in the earth’s magnetic field
Although most of the solar activity erupting from the Sun is shielded by Earth’s magnetic field, scientists have observed a crack in this field that could allow dangerous solar winds to pass through. This kink is likely due to a vernal equinox effect called the Russell-McPherron effect, which is less than two weeks away.
During the vernal equinox, the Sun is directly above the equator, causing day and night to be of equal length. As a side effect, there is semiannual variation in the effective southern component of the interplanetary field. Cracks form in the Earth’s magnetic field that can allow even weak solar winds to seep through.