More sunspot disruptions
possible in next few days
Giant sunspots that began hurtling flares toward Earth in late October still appear to be "very much in force," according to a University of Hawaii solar astronomer.
The strong active region that erupted after a period of nearly no activity is starting to rotate back across the sun from the far side, said Jeffrey Kuhn, associate director of the Institute for Astronomy's solar program at Haleakala, Maui.
"The biggest, most active region isn't here yet. It should be in a few more days. From all appearances these regions are still very much in force, although there have been no major solar flares. This looks like the tail end of a very strange two weeks for the sun, but we won't know for a few more days if it's the last gasp for this unusual period of solar activity."
Sunspots, which indicate intense magnetic activity, appear dark because they are much cooler than their surroundings, according to the National Solar Observatory. They can produce solar flares, explosions of great amounts of energy, that are shot into space.
Scientists were surprised when three giant sunspots appeared in late October because the last maximum activity in the 11-year solar cycle was in 2001. It appeared to be declining, with a so-called solar minimum period anticipated in 2006.
The sunspots were larger than the planet Jupiter, and one, called 486, was the largest in 13 years, according to NASA.
Sunspot 486 exploded on Nov. 4 with the most powerful flare ever recorded.
The sunspots affected Earth with radio blackouts, solar protons that penetrated the upper atmosphere with radiation doses equal to a chest X-ray and auroras that appeared in places where they are seldom seen.
