SOT • Active Region Evolution - Sunspot and Granulation - These high resolution images show a close-up view of a moderately large sunspot. The field of view covers about 30,000 km horizontally and vertically. 29.1.2021 • The penumbral diameter of this sunspot (taken on 20.8.2013) is about 16500 km; the Earth, with an equatorial radius of 6378 km, would cover up the umbra but not the penumbra. Sunspots can be quite small (~1500 km diameter), and reach sizes up to 50000 km. While it is known that

🚨 BOOM! The Sun Just Fired an X-Flare! ☀️💥 Happy Sun Day! Solar activity surged overnight as Sunspot AR4098 exploded with: 🔸 X1.1 flare at 01:46 UTC🔸 M1.7 flare at 06:35 UTC🔸 M3.4 flare at 10:05 UTC This region is growing fast and crackling with energy! 🌍➡️ No Earth-directed CMEs (yet), but AR4098 is one to watch, the region has developed significant magnetic complexity - MORE FLARES?!. Stay tuned—this solar show might just be getting started.#SpaceWeather #XFlare #Sunspot #Heliophysics #S

The Sun: Abundant Sunspot Activity | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory FriendsofNASA.org: An abundance of sunspot groups are present on the visible solar disk—at least 12 active regions. Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun. They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun’s surface. Solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy caused by tangling, crossing, or reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots. The southern solar hemisphere has the m