﻿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 May 11 [2]The Sun is shown in black and white showing dark sunspots on the far right. The large sunspot group is expanded in an inset image at the bottom left. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. AR 3664: Giant Sunspot Group Image Credit & Copyright: Franco Fantasia & [3]Guiseppe Conzo ([4]Gruppo Astrofili Palidoro) Explanation: Right now, one of the largest sunspot groups in recent history is crossing the Sun. [5]Active Region 3664 is not only big -- it's violent, throwing off clouds of particles into the [6]Solar System. Some of these [7]CMEs are already impacting the Earth, and others might follow. At the extreme, [8]these solar storms could cause some [9]Earth-orbiting satellites to malfunction, the [10]Earth's atmosphere to slightly distort, and [11]electrical power grids to surge. When impacting [12]Earth's upper atmosphere, these particles can produce beautiful auroras, with some [13]auroras already being reported [14]unusually far south. Pictured here, [15]AR3664 and its dark [16]sunspots were captured yesterday in visible light from [17]Rome, [18]Italy. The AR3664 sunspot group is so large that it is [19]visible just with glasses designed to [20]view last month's [21]total solar eclipse. This weekend, [22]skygazing enthusiasts will be keenly watching the night skies all over the globe for [23]bright and [24]unusual auroras. Gallery: [25]Active Region 6443 on the Sun Tomorrow's picture: active sky __________________________________________________________________ [26]< | [27]Archive | [28]Submissions | [29]Index | [30]Search | [31]Calendar | [32]RSS | [33]Education | [34]About APOD | [35]Discuss | [36]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell ([40]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [41]Specific rights apply. [42]NASA Web Privacy, [43]Accessibility, [44]Notices; A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC, [48]NASA Science Activation & [49]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2405/SunAr3664_Fantasia_3216.jpg 3. mailto: giuconzo at gmail dot com 4. https://www.astrofilipalidoro.it/ 5. https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/news/view/531/20240508-sunspot-region-3664-major-flares-and-cmes.html 6. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/ 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection 8. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/geomagnetic-storming-likely-persist-weekend 9. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5214/ 10. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/atmosphere/ 11. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/images/u33/finalBoulderPresentation042611 (1).pdf 12. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-atmosphere/earths-atmosphere-a-multi-layered-cake/ 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230122.html 14. https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=206722 15. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/large-and-complex-sunspot-groups-lead-increased-solar-flare-chances 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunspot 17. https://youtu.be/oSexfR0Ubzw 18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy 19. https://people.com/thmb/kiAUaJce7MqVr5XwZFuOA3S10MU=/750x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2):format(webp)/dog-eclipse-2000-ef0176770ff64e6b913f2af6e8273a24.jpg 20. https://earthsky.org/sun/giant-sunspot-region-ar3664-visible-in-eclipse-glasses/ 21. https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/ 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040808.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240114.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150601.html 25. https://www.facebook.com/media/set?set=a.431368006258449&type=3 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240510.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 32. https://apod.com/feed.rss 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240511 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240512.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 43. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 49. http://www.mtu.edu/