It is impossible to look at the Sun without protective filters. But if you have special glasses for observing solar eclipses then you will be able to see a giant spot on it without any telescope.

four times more than the world

For several days now, a giant spot has been creeping across the Sun’s disk. It got the name AR3310 and has a size four times larger than Earth. Astronomer Bum Suk Yeom from South Korea said he managed to see this spot without a telescope.

However, he hastened to remind everyone immediately that it is impossible to look at the Sun without protective filters because of the danger of burning the retina. And regular sunglasses don’t really help with that. Only those specially designed for this purpose or used, for example, by welders, are effective.

However, fans of observing the Sun from the east coast are in luck. Strong forest fires occur there. And the smoke from them acts as a natural filter. Thus, they were able not only to see the stain with their own eyes, but also to photograph it.

What is the threat of a giant spot?

Scientists carefully monitor the movement of the AR3310 point along the solar disk, so far it has been practically oriented towards the Earth. And although its dark color is due to its temperature being 1,500 degrees lower than the rest of our star’s atmosphere, it does not threaten the cooling of our planet.

On the contrary, everyone is waiting for bright fireworks. The reconnection of the magnetic lines takes place under the sunspots. And when it does, you can expect an epidemic. In fact, the AR3310 gave birth to the M-class explosion even before it came back to us. Although this is what dropped several of Elon Musk’s satellites to Earth last year, they are not considered very powerful.

Scientists suspect that this giant has not yet shown its true strength. Currently, the probability of an X-class flare occurring while the point is facing Earth is estimated to be 20 percent. If that happens, it will be nice to see the aurora again in Ukraine. The unpleasant thing will be that electrical appliances can fail.