AR 12192 was an unusually large active region (AR) on the Sun; spanning a distance of 1.2 million kilometers or 30 lengths of Earth’s circumference. Active regions are areas of particularly strong magnetic fields that can contain one or more sunspots. Depending on the complexity of the magnetic field, spots can have various field configurations. AR 12192 had a complicated δ -type sunspot group in which several umbrae shared a common penumbra.

This image sequence was created with frames captured by the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on 2014 October 24.

Giant sunspot returns – and it’s bigger and badder than ever

The largest sunspot seen in 24 years is rotating back to face the Earth, and it looks to have grown even bigger.

Last month, the solar active region known as AR12192 (also known as AR2192 to some of its friends) entertained the worldwith the sunspot clearly visible with the naked eye (with some appropriate and approved solar-watch or eclipse dark glasses, of course), and produced a series of…

Blog: Fingers Crossed As Massive Sun Spot Points At Earth

This is the sun as it is was just before this blog was posted. You can see the huge sunspot just below and slightly to the left of the centre of disk. Active Region 12192, as it is known has caused US scientists to declare a “Major Flare Watch” alert.  The image is from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Laboratory spacecraft with its Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument. Courtesy: NASA.

  Keep your…