In News – Recently, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed a massive Sunspot group named AR2770.

  • It emitted a few minor space flares which caused minor waves of ionization to ripple through Earth’s upper atmosphere.

What are Sunspots?

  • A sunspot is a dark area on the sun’s surface which is relatively cooler than the surrounding parts.
  • These sunspots have electrically charged gases that generate areas of powerful magnetic forces and some sunspots are as large as 50,000 km in diameter.
  • Sunspots are a common sight on our Sun during the years around solar maximum. 
  • Solar maximum or solar max is the period of greatest solar activity in the solar cycle of the Sun, where one solar cycle lasts about 11 years. 
  • The current solar cycle, which began in 2008, is in its ‘solar minimum’ phase, where the number of Sunspots and solar flares is at a routine low.
  • Types of Sunspots -They typically consist of a dark region called the ‘umbra’, which is surrounded by a lighter region called the ‘penumbra’.
  • In every solar cycle, the number of Sunspots increases and decreases.

What are Solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections?

  • Solar flares are the result of changes in magnetic fields on the sunspots that cause a huge explosion. These solar flares are often released into space.
  • At times, solar flares are accompanied by Coronal Mass Ejections (CME)in which large bubbles of radiation and particles emitted by the Sun that explodes into space at high speed. 
  • CMEs can trigger intense light in the sky on Earth, called auroras.
  • The solar flare explosion’s energy can be equivalent to a trillion ‘Little boy’ atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
  • Recently, scientists developed a new model that can successfully predict seven of the Sun’s biggest flares from the last solar cycle out of a set of nine with the help of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Damage caused by Solar flares- Solar flares can have a major effect on radio communications, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) connectivity, power grids, and satellites.

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