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Sunspot Complex 484. An unusually active Sun has professional astronomers amazed while amateurs revel in backyard sightings of two Jupiter-sized sunspots. Meanwhile, a heavy dose of space weather buffeted Earth midday Friday, and more stormy weather is on the way.
Forecasters said the stormy weather could disrupt satellite communications and poses a threat to power grids on Earth. So far there have been no reports of serious problems.
The first storm of charged particles was unleashed by a dark region on the solar surface called Sunspot 484. The huge spot, about the size of Jupiter's surface, has been growing for several days and has rotated into a position that now points squarely at Earth.
Another giant sunspot is brewing and has generated two eruptions, the latest early Sunday. That storm could arrive early in the week.
"Astronomers can't remember the last time this happened: two Jupiter-sized sunspots crossing the face of the Sun at the same time," according to the NASA-run web site Spaceweather.com.
Sunspots are cooler regions of the Sun where magnetic energy wells up, often prior to eruptions.
Sunspot 484 let lose a storm of energetic particles, known as a coronal mass ejection at 3 a.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 22, according to forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The expanding cloud arrived midday Friday, robbing most skywatchers of the chance to see colorful aurora, or Northern Lights, which are typically seen only at night.
Forecasters said the second sunspot, number 486, is rotating into an effective position on the Sun's surface. Combined, the two sunspots could produce additional stormy weather over the next couple of weeks.
All images are the property of Adam Stuart and may not be copied without permission.