Huge, potentially disruptive sunspot will swing round to face Earth this weekend

A huge sunspot on the far side of the sun is expected to hit Earth this weekend, potentially causing a storm.

Spaceweather.com says that the spot is changing the way the sun vibrates. If the dark spot hurls a blob of plasma at Earth, it could affect our magnetic field, as well as airplane navigation systems. There is a chance of a solar storm on August 6 and 7, but it is not yet known if it will cause the Auroras.

Sun spots are dark patches on the sun's surface. The sunspot is on the far side of the sun and scientists were able to detect it.

Dean Pesnell, project scientist of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, told Live Science in an email that the sun vibrates because of the bubbles hitting the surface. Hot and cool bubbles that continually rise and fall inside the sun cause vibration that can be detected by the SDO. The sunspot has a strong magnetic field. Pesnell said that the SDO can see sunspots on our host star's far side despite only being able to see its near side.

Near the sun's southeastern limb, there was a map showing the changes in the sun's atmosphere.

The sunspot is going to face Earth this weekend, which could lead to solar flares.

When the sunspot rotates into view, flares will likely be seen.

The activity of the sun could have an impact. Solar flares can heat clouds of charged particles from the sun's upper atmosphere to huge temperatures, which can launch huge blobs of plasma at Earth. Pesnell said there could be some mass ejections from the sunspot.

Solar activity affects the Earth in many ways. Satellite operators will lose income if a satellite is de-orbited due to higher levels of solar activity. The disruption of communications and navigation in the polar regions is one of the possible effects of space weather.

When the number of sunspots are most and least numerous, the sun has a solar maximum and solar minimum. The sun is going to get a solar maximum in the next two decades. The sun has been more active than expected. Sunspot behavior is normal at this point of the cycle.

It was originally published on Live Science