Biggest sunspot region in years

by wordlesstech team

An active region on the sun, has been moving across the face of the sun from left to right since March 2, 2012. Designated AR 1429, the spot has so far produced three X-class flares and numerous M-class flares.

This image was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on March 10, 2012 at 12:29PM EST in the 304 Angstrom wavelength. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA

Geomagnetic storms at Earth are currently at a rating of G2 (moderate) on a scale of G1 to G5. This is due to the arrival of a coronal mass ejection that began at 1 p.m. EST on March 10, 2012, in association with the two M-class flares that day. Storms at this rating may have an effect on high frequency radio communications at high latitudes and may cause increased aurora.