A 'Dead' Sunspot Just Exploded, Launching a Plasma Ball Toward Earth

 

The Sun on 11 April 2022. (SDAC/SDO/AIA)

A sunspot's "corpse" ruptured on Monday (April 11), generating a mass ejection of solar debris that is heading toward Earth.

 

According to SpaceWeather.com, the explosion is caused by a dead sunspot known as AR2987. The sunspot explosion released a large amount of energy in the form of radiation, as well as a coronal mass ejection (CME) — explosive balls of solar material – all of which could cause the northern lights to become more powerful in Earth's upper atmosphere. According to SpaceWeather, the material in that CME is expected to hit Earth on April 14.

 

Sunspots are dark areas on the Sun's surface. According to the Space Weather PredictionCenter, they are caused by an intense magnetic flux from the Sun's interior. These blemishes are only transient, lasting anywhere from a few hours to several months.

 

According to Philip Judge, a solar physicist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the concept of a "dead" sunspot is more lyrical than scientific, although the Sun's convection splits these spots apart, leaving behind magnetically disturbed areas of the solar surface.

 

"Sunspots can'restart,' with more magnetism appearing later (days, weeks) at the same region, as if a weakness was made in the convection zone, or as if there is an unstable region beneath the surface that is particularly good at generating magnetic fields beneath".

 

Whatever the future holds for AR2987, the sunspot released a C-class solar flare on Monday at 5:21 UTC (April 11). When the plasma and magnetic fields above a sunspot are stressed, they speed outward because they would run against dense stuff if they moved downward toward the Sun's centre, according to Judge.

 

C-class flares are fairly common, but they rarely have direct impacts on Earth. Solar flares can sometimes generate coronal mass ejections, which are massive eruptions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun that move outward into space at millions of miles per hour, like with today's explosion. According to SpaceWeatherLive, C-class solar flares seldom cause CMEs, and when they occur, the CMEs are usually slow and weak.

 

When charged particles from CMEs collide with the magnetic field surrounding Earth, they can travel down magnetic field lines emanating from the North and South Poles, interacting with gases in the atmosphere and releasing energy in the form of photons, resulting in the aurora – the northern and southern lights.

Sharing all 1689 photos from 1126pm to 1234am last night with no editing. I started out with 5 second exposures. As the aurora brightened and sped up I lowered, eventually getting to 1 second exposures at 43 seconds in to this video. pic.twitter.com/PXOtZrr5hR

— Don Moore (@capture907) April 11, 2022

 

A stream of particles known as the solar wind is enough to cause the aurora in the polar regions during quiet moments on the Sun's surface. The aurora may emerge across a considerably wider region during a major CME due to the higher disturbance to the planet's magnetic field.

 

According to Space.com, a so-called cannibal CME sped toward Earth at the end of March, causing auroras in Canada, the northern United States, and New Zealand.

 

According to SpaceWeather, the CME emitted Monday could produce a modest (G1) geomagnetic storm on April 14, with minor effects on satellite operations and weak power grid oscillations. The aurora could be seen as far south as northern Michigan and Maine, at lower latitudes than usual.

 

According to the Solar Influences Data Analysis Center, which is part of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, all of this activity is rather normal for the Sun. It's a moment of increasing activity for our nearest star, which swings through solar cycles, which are periods of calm and activity.

 

Since formal observations began in 1755, the Sun is currently in Solar Cycle 25, the 25th. During this cycle, the number of sunspots is increasing and is predicted to peak in 2025, which means increased chances for solar storms – and auroras.

 

On Sunday, there were additional strong geomagnetic storms (April 10). Other than the one spewed out by AR2987's remnants, no other Earth-directed CMEs have been observed in the past 24 hours, according to the Solar Influences Data Analysis Center.