Giant sunspot seen by NASA may disrupt Earth’s power grids

The rover, which photographs the Sun daily with its Mastcam-Z camera system to gauge the amount of dust present in the Martian atmosphere, was more than 152 million miles away from our closest star. Sunspots, which are darker and cooler planet-sized regions on the surface of the Sun where magnetic activity is strong, are capable of spawning solar flares, bursts of high-energy radiation, and coronal mass ejections—massive outbursts of solar plasma—that can interfere with satellite navigation and disrupt power grids on Earth.

“Because Mars is orbiting over the far side of the Sun, Perseverance can see approaching sunspots more than a week before we do,” reported experts from Spaceweather.com on Aug. 20. “Consider this your one-week warning: A big sunspot is coming.” The images, which have been turned into an animation, show a massive black patch moving across the surface of the sun. “It takes a large sunspot to show in these low-resolution images,”Spaceweather wrote. 

Sunspots form when concentrations of magnetic field emerge from layers deep within the Sun, according to the European Solar Telescope. The magnetic field in active sunspot regions can be some 2,500 times stronger than Earth’s, according to the National Weather Service. The frequency and intensity of the dark blotches visible on the surface of the Sun are indicative of the level of solar activity during its 11-year solar cycle. Some experts believe the Sun will reach solar maximum—the peak of the solar cycle—by the end of the year, ahead of official predictions.