Something is happening on the Sun. Scientists have detected that it has new sunspots that are reminiscent of the fantastic recent incident that caused the appearance of the northern lights in places where we would never have imagined seeing them. Does it mean more auroras are on the way or could something totally different happen this time?
The last few days have been critical for the activity that is taking place on the Sun. Scientists have seen that one of the sunspot regions of the star, those in which you can see those curious marks that worry as much as they surprise, is having an unexpected activity. The same thing happened a few months ago and that generated the imposing auroras we talked about.
This is sunspot AR 3697
The sunspot that caused the auroras was AR 3664, which was no longer visible weeks ago. Now it is the turn of AR 3697, another sunspot whose effects remain to be seen to what extent they reach. At the moment, scientists are constantly monitoring its activity and, in recent days, although eruptions have occurred, they have been fairly under control.
Whether there could be, in the near future, a sunspot that causes an eruption as powerful as those previously recorded is something we do not know. What is being seen is that it is generating a large number of eruptions, from X 2.8, which was the first, to others of type X1.45 or X1.4.
For now there is no solar storm
At the moment there has not been a solar storm that triggers the effects of what happened in the month of May and that revolutionized the world in a forceful way. But scientists are clear that, with complete precision, they do not know what may happen. For the northern lights to occur, not only must the solar eruption be generated, but there must also be an enormous expulsion of solar plasma and a magnetic field must be produced that triggers the effects that we notice on Earth. Therefore, it is a peculiar combination.
What some specialists thought was that the sunspot would quickly lose its strength and would end up generating minor eruptions until its effects could no longer be appreciated. And, at first, it seemed like it was going to be that way. After the category in the hands some forecasts that indicate that higher eruptions could be seen again.
According to these forecasts, there is a 30% chance that we will see powerful solar flares again. In addition, it is believed that they could be more frequent and intense because the position in which the sunspot is located has a route of action focusing directly towards the Earth. Therefore, the options increase even more. That leaves us in a position where, as scientists think, anything can happen.
Furthermore, they comment that we should not be disappointed if, in the end, the AR 3697 sunspot does not generate a storm again that will lead us to see the northern lights. The reason for this is that the Sun is approaching the peak moment in its activity cycle, something that does not occur annually, but rather every long periods of time. This is good news, since, as you remember, the effect of the auroras made the whole world surprised by what was happening on the Sun.
As we can see in the images shared by NASA, these types of eruptions are truly spectacular and, on the other hand, they allow us to see how infinitely small the Earth is compared to the Sun. Therefore, everything that happens in the star that gives us heat ends up affecting us in such a direct way. So, we don’t know what will happen, but we can’t say that we don’t want to talk about the northern lights again.
