                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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
    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 & Guiseppe Conzo (Gruppo
                             Astrofili Palidoro)

   Explanation: Right now, one of the largest sunspot groups in recent
   history is crossing the Sun. Active Region 3664 is not only big -- it's
   violent, throwing off clouds of particles into the Solar System. Some
   of these CMEs are already impacting the Earth, and others might follow.
   At the extreme, these solar storms could cause some Earth-orbiting
   satellites to malfunction, the Earth's atmosphere to slightly distort,
   and electrical power grids to surge. When impacting Earth's upper
   atmosphere, these particles can produce beautiful auroras, with some
   auroras already being reported unusually far south. Pictured here,
   AR3664 and its dark sunspots were captured yesterday in visible light
   from Rome, Italy. The AR3664 sunspot group is so large that it is
   visible just with glasses designed to view last month's total solar
   eclipse. This weekend, skygazing enthusiasts will be keenly watching
   the night skies all over the globe for bright and unusual auroras.

                   Gallery: Active Region 6443 on the Sun
                       Tomorrow's picture: active sky
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

