Sunspot AR1654 Getting Bigger w/ Solar Flare

Sunspot AR1654 Getting Bigger, Unleashes Solar Flare In M1-Class Blast, NASA Officials Say

Posted: 01/12/2013 2:45 am EST  |  Updated: 01/12/2013 2:50 am EST

By: SPACE.com Staff
Published: 01/11/2013 06:02 PM EST on SPACE.com


The surface of the sun erupted in a solar flare early today (Jan. 11), unleashing a blast of super-heated plasma into space.

A huge sunspot known as AR1654 produced the M1-class flare at 4:11 a.m. EST (0911 GMT), officials with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory said in a description of the event. The SDO spacecraft is one of several sun-watching space telescopes keeping tabs on solar flares and other sun weather events.

According to Spaceweather.com, sunspot AR1654 is growing more active and is now "crackling with M-class solar flares" like the one that erupted today.

More - Link >>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/12/solar-flare-erupts-sunspot_n_2460806.html

Sources: NASA, Space.com, The Huffington Post.

Photo of Sun with Sunspot AR1654, which is approximately 1.5 times the size of the Planet Jupiter (Source: NASA):
Link >>> http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/synoptic/sunspots_earth/mdi_sunspots_1024.jpg

NASA's 3-Minute Solar Cycle Primer (Sources: NASA, EarthSky.org )
Link >>> http://earthsky.org/space/nasas-three-minute-solar-cycle-primer

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