Our otherwise quiet sun had a stormy five-hour feast throughout the early hours of Tuesday (Oct. 26). NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded a series of eruptions on the limb of the sun, not dealing with the Earth. Its uncertain from the angle of the surges (relative to Earth) from where they emanated, but the area weather condition tracking website SpaceWeather.com suggested it would be a sunspot, or a dark concentration of magnetic activity on the suns surface.” At least half a dozen surges took place during that quick motion picture,” SpaceWeather.com wrote in the report. “The blast website is concealed just behind the edge of the sun. Its likely an unsteady sunspot.” Scientists will get a better glimpse of the region when it rotates into the view of our Earth in approximately 24 to 48 hours, the report included. The suns rotation varies by latitude due to the fact that it is a large ball of gas, however it takes 24 Earth days to rotate at the equator and more than 30 days at the poles.Related: The suns wrath: Worst solar storms in historyThis image from NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory reveals an active solar region (noticeable at top-middle left) on the left limb of the sun as it rotated into view on Oct. 26, 2021. (Image credit: NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science groups) This year is towards the beginning of a brand-new 11-year cycle of solar activity, which began in December 2019. The start of a cycle generally has fewer sunspots and fewer eruptions, and then those features increase as we reach the peak, which in this case is expected to be around mid-2025. Its uncertain exactly how strong this forthcoming solar cycle will be, although solar cycle 25 (the current cycle) has a general consensus among researchers that the average variety of sunspots will be lower than normal: a variety of 95 to 130 at peak, compared with a typical 140 to 220 sunspots.NASAs SDO is one of a variety of telescopes and spacecraft that gaze at the sun in an effort to improve solar weather forecasts. A strong flare aimed towards Earth, if it is accompanied by a stream of charged particles referred to as a coronal mass ejection, might cause issues such as shorting out satellites or damaging power lines.Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook..
