By Study Finds

Earth is under the watchful eyes of scientists as a colossal sunspot, approximately 15 times the size of our planet, poses a significant threat to cause widespread disruption. Known as sunspot AR3664, this immense feature spans an astonishing 124,000 miles. The impact of such geomagnetic storms is profound as they can disrupt satellite operations, communications, the electrical power grid, and even navigation systems.

Sunspots are darker, cooler areas on the sun's surface, arising from interactions with the sun's magnetic field. These areas are often the origins of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are sudden eruptions of magnetic fields and plasma from the sun's corona.

Image captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft shows the solar flare from the Sun's sunspot on Thursday, March 9th. (Credit: NASA)