Giant sunspot stuns astronomers with bizarre activity

In mid-October astronomers began to closely observe a giant sunspot on the surface of our star estimated to be nearly 130, 000 kilometers wide - the largest detected in the last 24 years. In other words, the spot is large enough to hold the planet Jupiter - or 10 Earths inside.

Coronal Mass Spots, Rashes, and Ejections

Basically, sunspots are less heated regions on the sun's surface that concentrate an incredible amount of magnetic energy. Our star, contrary to what many people think, is not a solid body, but a gigantic sphere formed by absurdly hot ionized gas that is kept "concentrated" in this shape due to its incredible gravitational force, created by the Sun's own mass, acting the same way in all directions.

In addition, according to Jenny Marder of PBS.org, the sun spins faster at the height of its equator, causing some of this magnetic field to drag, twisting and accumulating in some regions to form the spots. Then these areas of magnetic buildup gain more pressure, energy and fluidity, and eventually some of that magnetic energy reaches the surface and is ejected.

This release can occur either in the form of a solar flare - that is, an explosion that expels energy and radiation - or in the form of a coronal mass ejection consisting of huge amounts of gas composed of charged particles and the solar magnetic field. capable of traveling through space up to 150 million kilometers per day.

The eruptions are much smaller and less durable than the coronal mass ejections and, after throwing material through space, the ionized gas released by the explosion cools back to the sun - crashing into the surface at speeds that can reach 100 kilometers per second. Even so, they can interfere with particles in the earth's atmosphere and cause telecommunications interference.

Bizarre Behavior

However, according to Jenny, although astronomers have observed numerous eruptions in the spot discovered in October, instead of expelling ionized gas into space by coronal mass ejection - as normal - the spot is keeping the plasma close. surface of the sun, slowly releasing energy through the explosions.

As NASA's Alex Young explained, what astronomers have been observing can be compared to an elastic band that is twisted into knots. According to Young, the same is happening with the sun's magnetic fields: they are becoming increasingly twisted and concentrated, and one hour all that energy will have to be released.

Astronomers say they have never seen a sunspot behave this way, producing so many solar flares and almost no mass ejection. This area has produced 10 very large eruptions, six of them class X - which releases an amount of energy equivalent to 1 billion nuclear bombs like Hiroshima's. In fact, 20% of all class X eruptions observed in the present solar cycle were produced by this spot.

Luckily - or perhaps unlucky for the Terrans - this complex spot is facing Earth, and astronomers are taking the opportunity to observe and try to understand their activity. But so far, everyone seems amazed at what they are seeing, and scientists are still unable to predict the next event that will be produced by the spot.