NASA observatory captures largest sunspot in two decades

October 25, 2014 11:43 am | Updated May 23, 2016 04:07 pm IST - Washington

This image provided by NASA shows the sun emitting a significant X3.2-class flare erupting from the lower half of the sun, peaking at 5:40 p.m. EDT Friday Oct. 24, 2014. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly and captured images of the event. (AP Photo/NASA)

This image provided by NASA shows the sun emitting a significant X3.2-class flare erupting from the lower half of the sun, peaking at 5:40 p.m. EDT Friday Oct. 24, 2014. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly and captured images of the event. (AP Photo/NASA)

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has spotted an image of a gigantic sunspot - the largest in last 24 years.

The flare erupted from a particularly large active region dubbed as AR 12192. The sunspot soon grew to be the largest active region observed in the current solar cycle - a periodic change in the Sun’s activity and appearance - which began in 2008.

This is the fourth substantial X-class flare from this active region since October 19. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

“The sunspot region is about 80,000 miles across, which is wide enough for 10 Earths to be laid across its diameter,” NASA said in a statement.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground. These can also disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

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