The Sunspot grew to become visible on July 6 and has been rising in measurement on the floor of the Sun.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A Sunspot, recognized as Sunspot 3363, has been noticed on the floor of the Sun. It is at the moment visible without the assistance of telescopes, in line with Souda Atul Bhat, co-ordinator, Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club, Udupi.
A Sunspot is a area on the floor of the Sun the place the temperature is lower than its environment. “The surface of the Sun is as hot as 5,000 degrees, while these regions are at 4,500 degrees. This reduction in 500 K between the region and its surroundings, which means the surroundings of the Sunspot give out more light than the Sunspot and thus, it appears dark,” he mentioned in a launch issued on Thursday.
“The Sunspot 3363 has been visible since July 6, 2023, and might be visible until the end of this week, before it moves away from our view and not appear again,” mentioned Mr. Bhat, who’s assistant professor of physics at Poornaprajna College in Udupi.
“Care must be taken to use proper filters to observe the Sun. Do not stare directly at it, do not use X-ray sheets or goggles meant for day-to-day activities. The Sun must always be observed with a certified solar filter. Using anything other than a filter can damage the vision,” Mr. Bhat mentioned.
Sunspot 3363 has been rising in measurement. This improve in measurement has led to the Sunspot being visible to the bare eye, with the assistance of a photo voltaic filter, without any telescopes, or binoculars. Normally, Sunspots are solely visible by means of a telescope outfitted with a photo voltaic filter. “The appearance of the Sunspot 3363 of such large size suggests that the Sunspot is currently larger than the Earth itself. Typically, Sunspots can vary between 16 km to 1,60,000 km in size. The Earth’s diameter is 12,742 km and therefore, it is normal for a Sunspot to be larger than the Earth,” the discharge mentioned.
However, the scale and look of the Sunspots will not be uniform. The look of Sunspots will depend on what is thought as the photo voltaic cycle. This is a interval of 11 years the place the exercise on the floor of the Sun, appears to extend after which lower, earlier than repeating once more. The present photo voltaic cycle, i.e. Cycle 25, started in 2019 and is anticipated to indicate most exercise in 2025. “So we will observe more such sunspots in future as well. However, there is no guarantee that it will always appear on the part of the Sun that’s facing the Earth. Scientists are still trying to figure out why the solar cycle lasts 11 years and other mysteries associated with it. The only thing that we know is that the Sunspot is a consequence of the complex magnetic fields of the Sun and Sunspot 3363 will not erupt and cause any harm to Earth,” he mentioned.
A Sunspot will be visible from anyplace between just a few hours to some days on the floor of the Sun. A secure and huge sunspot will be seen for a number of days as it strikes throughout the Solar Disk as the Sun rotates whereas some sunspots can disappear inside just a few hours. “It is important that we observe such a wonderous act of nature, where we notice a dot on the Sun’s surface that is bigger than the Earth, giving us a clearer picture as to how big the Sun really is,” Mr. Bhat mentioned.
The Sunspot has been tracked by the Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club in its rising stage and viewers could accomplish that too on the membership’s Website, which presents the view of the Sun as seen by NASA, reside, he mentioned.
