A stunning new time-lapse photo shows two bands of shape-shifting sunspots moving across the Sun’s surface as our host star rotates at the center of the Solar System. When the mesmerizing picture was taken, the total number of sunspots was at its highest in eight years, suggesting solar activity is about to climb another notch.
right time (opens in new tab)An amateur astrophotographer based in Bursa, Turkey created the new image using data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Photo (opens in new tab), which Şanlı shared on his Instagram account on January 3, is a composite of different snaps taken between December 2 and December 27, 2022. Two bands of clusters developed in the image belong to a pair of particularly large sunspot clusters: A3176, located north of the Sun’s equator; and A3153, both in the Sun’s southern hemisphere, moved east to west (right to left in the image). Şanlı digitally removed other sunspots visible on the Sun’s surface from this period, allowing observers to track subtle changes in sunspot groups over time.
Connected: Can sunspots affect the weather?
(opens in new tab)
Sunspots are planet-sized regions of the Sun’s visible surface, or photosphere, that have an increased magnetic field. The spots are not actually black; they look darker (opens in new tab) compared to the rest of the photosphere because they are much cooler than their surroundings. Scientists track these regions of strong magnetism because they can spit out potentially disruptive solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
During December 2022, more than 113 sunspots were found on the Sun’s surface – the most since December 2014, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (opens in new tab), That total is a substantial increase from the rest of 2022, which averaged 73.3 sunspots each month prior to December.
The increase in sunspots is the result of the Sun entering a more active phase of its 11-year solar cycle, which should peak in 2025. In 2022, scientists measure growth (opens in new tab) Solar storms increase in frequency and strength, and 2023 will likely be even more active if the number of sunspots remains high or increases further.
Several major solar storms have already erupted this year. On January 3, a suspected X-class solar flare, the most powerful type of flare the sun can produce, erupted on the far side of the sun. (opens in new tab), Just three days later, the Sun fired a definite X-class flare from the same sunspot. And on January 4, Earth’s magnetic field was destroyed by a potentially disruptive CME. (opens in new tab) As the planet reaches its closest point to the Sun, which is known as perihelion.
originally published on LiveScience.com,