Supersized sunspot is largest in decades

Guest post by Thomas Sumner

A colossal sunspot large enough to be seen with the naked eye now blemishes the nearside of the sun, covering an area wide enough to comfortably fit 10 Earths side by side. The new sunspot, dubbed AR 12192, is the largest observed since 1990.

Sunspots are cooler regions on the sun where powerful, twisted magnetic fields poke through the solar surface. According to NASA, the enormous sunspot has already sparked several solar flares, which can create auroras and disrupt satellites around Earth.