Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Recently, the colossal sunspot AR3664 has drawn attention for its immense size, reaching proportions comparable to the legendary Carrington sunspot of 1859.
NASA has released a composite image juxtaposing Carrington's famous sketch with a current photograph of the sun, both scaled to size, highlighting the striking similarity.
Credit: NASA
AR3664 spans an astonishing 2,00,000 kilometers from end to end, making it 15 times wider than Earth itself.
Despite its enormous size, AR3664 can be observed with the naked eye through ordinary eclipse glasses, without the need for magnification.
The Carrington sunspot is renowned for the intense solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) it unleashed in August and September 1859, leading to severe geomagnetic storms.
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Studies suggest that Carrington-class storms occur once every 40 to 60 years, indicating that a similar event may be overdue.
While the current CMEs are not expected to cause a new Carrington Event, sunspot AR3664 continues to hurl CMEs toward Earth.
NOAA forecasts indicate that at least three storm clouds are heading toward Earth, with potential geomagnetic storms expected on May 10th, 11th, and possibly 12th.
As AR3664 remains active, scientists and space weather experts will closely monitor its eruptions and their potential impact on Earth's geomagnetic environment.