Big sunspot appears, what this means for Earth

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Big sunspot appears, what this means for Earth

TOPEKA (

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) – Astronomers are monitoring a large dark spot on the sun’s surface which could impact Earth in the days ahead.

27 News spoke with Brenda Culbertson this week, a solar system ambassador with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (

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) Jet Propulsion Lab (

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), about a massive

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, dubbed 4079, and what it could mean for residents on Earth. She said astronomers have been monitoring the sunspot complex, which stretches nearly 87,000 miles across, for several days.

“The energy from 4079 is very strong, and as it approaches the center of the solar face, it faces Earth directly,” Culbertson said. “If any major solar flares occur while it is facing Earth, we will receive a direct hit of solar energy and solar particles, setting off a

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.”

(Photo Courtesy/Rick Heschmeyer)

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (

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) Space Weather Prediction Center (

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) describes geomagnetic storms as major disturbances in the Earth’s magnetosphere which can result in increased activity of the

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. Sunspots can erupt in events referred to as coronal mass ejections (CME) which send solar particles out into space and towards Earth on occasion. Periods of especially intense geomagnetic storms can result in disruptions to technology and widespread blackouts.

“One of the largest sunspot areas in recorded history occurred 1-2 September 1859, and it produced what is now called the

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,” Culbertson said. “That was a geomagnetic storm so strong that aurora was seen around Earth, disrupted electric grids, caused blackouts, and even reportedly started fires in telegraph stations. Sunspot 4079 covers about half the area that caused the Carrington Event, so we do not expect anything majorly disruptive from it.”

People in the U.S. witnessed the impact of one especially potent geomagnetic storm in 2024, referred to as the Gannon solar storm, that brought the northern lights into parts of the Midwest. Culbertson said some people may see strong activity of the lights in the days ahead if conditions prove favorable.

For now, Culbertson and other astronomers will continue to monitor sunspot 4079. The SWPC may issue an alert for a geomagnetic storm in the near future, ranking it on a scale of

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depending on its strength, to notify people about the possibility of seeing the northern lights.

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