They have discovered a sunspot heading toward Earth: what effects might it cause?

the a pot Discover a sunspot that will soon be visible from Earth. The discovery was made by the Rover Perseverance rover, according to Europe Press news agency.

The expanding spot was captured in the southern hemisphere of the star between August 17 and 20, by the Mastcam-Z camera dedicated to photographing the sun daily to measure the amount of dust in the Martian atmosphere.

Europe Press cites the news portal spaceweather.com Which indicated on August 22 that this sunspot observed by the rover Perseverance appears at the eastern edge of the sun, where it can be seen from Earth. It is apparently connected to other similar locations on the other side of the sun’s equator.

The movie, recorded by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows two horn-shaped columns of plasma jumping from the new sunspot and, at the same time, from sunspot AR3413. A magnetic bridge connecting the two active regions could time their explosions as they orbited Earth this week, multiplying their impact on our planet. spaceweather.com

What are sun spots?

According to NASA, these areas of the sun’s surface appear dark because they are cooler than other parts. These spaces register around 6,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

These form in regions where magnetic fields are strong and prevent some of the heat contained within the Sun from reaching the surface. They often serve as launch pads for solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which is why they are also known as “active regions”.

What is the relationship of Internet outages with sunspots?

According to Europe Press, solar flares and coronal ejections that hit Earth can affect satellite navigation and disrupt electrical grids, among other things. Hence, tracking the movement of sunspots is beyond academic interest.

One of Perseverance’s side activities is sungazing, which is the search for evidence of life on Mars. It explores the floor of Jezero Crater on Mars, which was home to a large lake and river delta millions of years ago.

The car-sized Rover Perseverance landed in a crater on Mars in February 2021 and is collecting dozens of samples that will be returned to Earth over the next decade through a joint campaign between NASA and the European Space Agency.