Solar storm warning! This Unstable sunspot is facing the Earth and can EXPLODE today | Tech News

Solar storm warning! This Unstable sunspot is facing the Earth and can EXPLODE today

A sunspot which is directly facing the Earth has developed an unstable beta-gamma magnetic field that contains enough energy for a M-class solar flare eruption. So will we see a solar storm brewing today? Find out.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Aug 04 2022, 11:07 IST
James Webb Space Telescope captures STUNNING Cartwheel Galaxy: NASA
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1/5 The stunning image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope was released by NASA on August 3. The image showed the Cartwheel Galaxy spinning ring of colour in never-before-seen clarity. (NASA)
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2/5 The image was captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and MIRI instrument. It showed individual stars within the star-forming regions in the outer ring of the Cartwheel galaxy. It also shows clusters of very young stars around the galaxy's central supermassive black hole shrouded in dust. (NASA)
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3/5 The Cartwheel galaxy is located in the constellation Sculptor, around 500 million light years away from Earth. According to the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), the galaxy’s shape was developed because of a head-on collision between 2 galaxies which created 2 rings from the galaxy’s center like "like ripples in a pond after a stone is tossed into it.” (AFP)
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4/5 The stunning image captured by telescope showed areas rich in hydrocarbons and silicate dust, connecting the inner and outer ring of the galaxy. The Hubble Telescope had also earlier captured the Cartwheel, but it was a mystery due to the amount of dust that hinders the view. The new $10 billion telescope makes these features much easier to distinguish and study. (ESA/Hubble)
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5/5 However, the galaxy is still in transformation from the collision between the 2 galaxies. Therefore, the observations will change with time and it will be interesting to see what happens next. (NASA)
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Sunspot AR3068 can cause an M-class solar flare eruption today, blasting a solar storm towards the Earth. Know the risk. (NASA)

Is a dangerous solar storm brewing in the innards of the Sun? A sunspot has become the cause of concern for scientists. This sunspot, named AR3068, first came into view last week when scientists observed it tripling in size in just 24 hours. The behavior of this sunspot was considered erratic and follow-up observations have been conducted ever since. Today, strange developments were spotted on the sunspot. It was seen that it has developed a beta-gamma magnetic field all around it which contains enough energy for a M-class solar flare eruption. Further, the sunspot is directly in Earth's view currently, so any eruptions today would mean that our planet will face the brunt of the resultant solar storm. This storm can be as powerful as a G4 class solar storm. So, will the sunspot explode today and what can such an intense solar storm do to us? Read on to find out.

The incident was reported by SpaceWeather.com. It posted on its website, “Growing sunspot AR3068 has developed a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. Any explosions today will be geoeffective because the sunspot is almost directly facing Earth”. At the moment, NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory is carefully observing the sunspot to know if any flare eruptions take place.

Sunspot threatens Earth with a solar storm possibility

At the moment, it is not clear whether the sunspot will blast a solar flare or not since it has been behaving erratically for five days straight. However, a solar flare eruption after today will not be as devastating as the sunspot will not be facing our planet resulting in a less intense solar storm. But if it does explode today, even a G4 class solar storm is not out of the question.

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If a G4 class solar storm does hit the Earth, it will not just cause beautiful auroras but also cause damage to smaller satellites, disrupt GPS systems, cause radio blackouts and impact mobile networks as well as internet connections. In the worst case scenario, electronic devices experiencing glitches and power grids failure is also not out of the question.

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First Published Date: 04 Aug, 11:07 IST
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