Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (TP)
Udupi, Jul 13: A sunspot has been spotted on the surface of the sun, identified as sunspot 3363, is visible without the help of any telescopes.
Sunspot 3363 has been observed in the past few days and has been growing in size. The increase in size has led to the sunspot being visible to the naked eye, with the help of a solar filter, without any telescopes or binoculars. Normally, sunspots are only visible through the help of a telescope equipped with a solar filter. The sunspot is currently larger than the Earth. The sunspots can vary between 16 km to 160000 km in size. The earth’s diameter is 12742km and therefore it is normal for a sunspot to be larger than that of the Earth.
A sunspot is a region on the surface of the Sun, where the temperature is less than its surroundings. The surface of the sun is as hot as 5000 degrees, while these regions are at 4500 degrees. This reduction in 500 K between the region and its surroundings, means, the surroundings of the Sunspot give out more light than the sunspot and thus, it appears dark.
The size and appearance of the sunspots are not uniform. The appearance of sunspots depends on what the solar cycle. This is a period of 11 years where the activity on the surface of the sun, seems to increase and then decrease, before repeating again. The current solar cycle 25 began in the year 2019 and is expected to show maximum activity in 2025. So, more such sunspots will be observed in future. But there is no assurance that it will always appear on the part of the sun that’s facing the Earth. Scientists are still trying to figure out why the solar cycle lasts 11 years and other mysteries associated with it. The only thing known is that the sunspot is a consequence of the complex magnetic fields of the sun and sunspot 3363 will not erupt and cause any harm to earth.
A sunspot can be visible from anywhere between a few hours to a few days on the surface of the sun. A stable and large sunspot can be seen for several days as it moves across the solar disk as the sun rotates while some sunspots can disappear within a few hours. The sunspot 3363 has been visible since July 6, 2023 and might be visible until the end of this week.
A dot on sun’s surface that is bigger than the Earth is noticed. Proper filters must be used while observing the. Do not stare directly at the sun, do not use X-ray sheets or goggles that are meant for day-to-day activities. The sun must always be observed with a certified solar filter. Using anything other than a filter can cause damage to vision.