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Scientists around the world are closely monitoring the sunspot, which is growing at unprecedented proportions, as it could have an impact on Earth's activities.
AR3664, which is 200,000 km long, is 15 times larger than Earth. The spot is so large that it can be observed with simple eclipse glasses. Its growth in recent days may make it one of the largest sunspots ever recorded.
The latter worries experts because it may cause a lot of instability in the star.
“Area 3664 has grown significantly and become magnetically complex,” the report said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center. “This has increased the risk of solar flares in the coming days.”
Image provided by NASA
The organization also issued a solar flare warning on Thursday. This type of event may cause Internet outages and affect the efficiency of the cellular network.
The size of AR3664 is close to that of Carrington, recorded in 1859. This sunspot caused a “carriton event”, a solar storm that led to fires in telegraph offices as well as sparking auroras visible from Cuba to Hawaii.
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