One of the biggest solar flares in months is exploding from the surface of our sun this week. It’s right at the center of a roiling filament of magnetism.
According to NASA, flares from sunspot 1112 haven’t gotten big enough to be worrying. The agency describes what you’re seeing in this closeup of the spot:
A vast filament of magnetism is cutting across the sun’s southern hemisphere, measuring about 400,000 km. A bright ‘hot spot’ just north of the filament’s midpoint is UV radiation from sunspot 1112. The proximity is no coincidence; the filament appears to be rooted in the sunspot below. If the sunspot flares, it could cause the entire structure to erupt. But so far, none of the flares has destabilized the filament.
Let’s hope for a stable filament and no mega-eruptions that endanger Earth.
via NASA
