Buzz
If you haven't already donated your eclipse glasses, keep them handy for a bit longer. Despite their name, these glasses can be used to safely observe the Sun any time, and right now, they’ll help you view some spectacular sunspots.
As Bob King from the astronomy blog Astro Bob writes, "Two enormous sunspot groups, regions 2673 and 2674, have made a beautiful mess of the Sun's otherwise smooth face." The latter has become one of the largest sunspots of the year.
Sunspots are areas of intense magnetic activity that appear darker against the Sun’s surface because they’re cooler than the surrounding areas. They’re often associated with space weather events like solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Their number follows an approximately 11-year cycle, and as astronomer Phil Plait tells Mytour, "we’re sliding into the minimum now." However, that doesn’t mean sunspots are gone. In fact, the longest period without observable sunspots in recent years was 15 days in March 2017.
This NASA video below illustrates the movement of a sunspot in July. That sunspot was around 78,000 miles in diameter—nearly 10 times the size of Earth.
With sunspot sightings on the decline for now, this recent appearance is a great reason to head outside and look at the Sun—while taking the necessary safety precautions, of course. "These beauties just appeared a few days ago," says Plait. "Sunspots visible to the naked eye are a rarity, but these are large enough to observe with proper protection."
Hopefully, you didn’t throw away your eclipse glasses right after the August totality, because there will be many other solar events to witness before the next major solar eclipse in the U.S. in 2024. As always, a reminder: do not look directly at the Sun, or you might end up seeing more spots than you expected. If you’re uncertain about the origin of your eclipse glasses, be sure to check the certification printed on the arms.
