Enormous Sunspot, Raises Concerns , After Rapidly Doubling in Size. 'Newsweek' reports that a massive, earth-facing sunspot has doubled in size over 24 hours and has raised concerns about a potential earth-bound solar flare. Sunspots form over areas of the sun where strong magnetic fields exist. . These tangled magnetic fields can suddenly reorganize themselves, releasing an explosion of light and radiation in the form of a solar flare. On June 20, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory revealed how the sunspot had significantly grown over the course of a day. 'Newsweek' reports that the massive sunspot has the potential to send an M-class solar flare at Earth. As of June 21, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center had not yet issued a solar flare warning. Solar flares can interfere with radio communications networks and navigation systems on Earth. M-class flares are actually quite common and tend to cause moderate, short-lasting radio blackout events. X-class flares are the strongest type of solar flare and only occur about once every 11 years. An X20 flare would be capable of causing a total high-frequency radio blackout for several hours on the sun-facing side of Earth.
