FAST-GROWING SUNSPOT

FAST-GROWING SUNSPOT: Scarcely 24 hours ago, sunspot AR2036 didn't exist. Now it is three times as wide as the planet Earth. Click to view a movie from the Solar Dynamics Observatory showing the sunspot's almost-explosive growth:



This new sunspot has a beta-gamma magnetic field that harbors energy for M-classsolar flares, Earth-directed because the sunspot is almost directly facing our planet. The region's rapid growth could destabilize the field, making an eruption even more likely. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of M-flares and a 5% chance of X-flares on April 15th