"A huge sunspot appears on the surface of the sun"? Don't be sensational!

Recently, a video suddenly became popular, with the content of "a huge sunspot appearing on the surface of the sun" and stating that "it will face Earth next week.".

This video quickly made it to the hot search lists on multiple online platforms. The text in the video shows that the Perseverance Mars rover captured a huge sunspot that may release a high-energy explosion, causing the Earth's power grid to collapse. What should be done? First of all, the conclusion is that this sunspot activity has already been monitored and is not considered a "surprise"! Its size is far from being huge! The impact on the Earth is not that exaggerated!

Why do you say that? Experts from the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center take you step by step into the truth ↓↓↓

What is a sunspot? Can you see it on Mars?

Sunspots are well-known to everyone. They are formed due to the fact that the plasma inside the sun is bound by an extremely strong magnetic field energy, and the energy conduction gradually decreases compared to the surrounding areas with weaker magnetic fields. The surface plasma temperature drops by about 1000 degrees Celsius, resulting in a lower brightness area. They are named after their appearance as black.

In 2023, there will never be a day when sunspots do not appear on the surface of the Sun. We can see them on Earth with the help of entry-level telescopes and Bard films, but what about Mars?

As early as August 20th, the team responsible for the operation of the Perseverance Mars rover at NASA's JPL Laboratory announced that sunspots had been captured on Mars and photos had been made public.

The picture shows sunspots captured by JPL laboratory on Mars

In fact, this is not the first time a Mars rover has captured sunspots. As early as April 4-15, 2015, the previous generation Mars rover Curiosity used its mast camera to continuously capture the sun for 12 days. This 100mm focal length lens successfully captured the image of sunspots rotating with the sun.

The picture shows the image of sunspots rotating with the sun as recorded by the previous generation Mars rover Curiosity

It should be said that as long as there is no sandstorm weather on Mars, it is not difficult to see sunspots, and this phenomenon can even be seen on every planet in the solar system. Of course, telescopes are needed on the four outer ring gas planets.

Why do you say this big black spot will be in a week

Will it face the Earth?

The reason for "seeing you in a week" is due to Mars and Earth having different orbital orbits and periods, respectively.

At present, Earth and Mars are located on either side of the Sun, with an angle of approximately 130 degrees between them. This way, Earth and Mars are like standing on both sides of the Sun while observing it. If Earth sees the front of the Sun, then Mars sees the back.

In addition, with the rotation of the sun, the sunspots previously captured by the Mars rover have actually slowly shifted towards the Earth facing side, which is the activity area numbered 13415 in the picture. Considering that the sun takes about 27 and a half days to rotate for one week, this video is based on the public calculation of the photos of the sunspots on the Mars rover. The claim that the Earth will see it after one week is also basically reliable. However, if there is any "surprise", it is too exaggerated, and the area of this sunspot is far from huge in the world of sunspots!

The activity area numbered 13415 in the picture is the sunspot image captured by the Mars rover, which has slowly turned towards Earth/Nanjing University Xihe Team

"Release high-energy explosions, global power outage"

What's going on?

Keep digging ↓↓↓

The sun can generate activities such as flares and coronal mass ejections, which can indeed have a significant impact on the Earth, and its source is sunspots.

As the area with the most concentrated magnetic field energy on the surface of the Sun, the sunspot region is like a large network woven by countless magnetic field lines, covering the turbulent and rolling high-temperature plasma below it. Its field strength can reach thousands of Gauss, while the Earth's magnetic field is only 0.5 Gauss.

However, this "magnetic network" will break, and when it cannot withstand the tension below, a change called magnetic reconnection will occur, and the originally accumulated energy will also be released outward, forming explosive activity.

So, by observing sunspots on the opposite side of the Earth and understanding their structure, magnetic field, area, and other changes, we can predict the possible explosive activity of the Sun.

Simulation diagram of Mars, Earth, and the Sun's movement

According to the judgment of the space weather forecaster from the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center, the possibility of strong eruption activity on this sunspot is not high.

As for the occurrence of major power outages, it is indeed true that they have occurred multiple times in history. For example, the power outage in Quebec, Canada in 1989 was caused by the energy released by the solar coronal mass ejection reaching the Earth, causing a drastic change in the Earth's own magnetic field and triggering geomagnetic storms.

In high school physics, everyone has been exposed to electromagnetic induction. The changing magnetic field or electric field will excite the corresponding field to undergo corresponding changes. When a transmission line spanning thousands of kilometers encounters a geomagnetic storm, it is equivalent to placing the wire in the changing magnetic field, generating induced currents that are superimposed on the original power grid, ultimately exceeding the maximum load capacity of the substation and causing the main transformer to burn out.

Based on the current visible sunspot activity areas on the surface, it is almost impossible for an extremely strong eruption to occur, and naturally, it is impossible to create a super geomagnetic storm that can paralyze the power grid.

In summary, sunspots provide energy conditions for solar eruptions, and once they do erupt when facing Earth, they may be transmitted to the vicinity of Earth and ultimately affect it.

So, this video exaggerates the impact of sunspots on Earth this time!

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Finally, the editor reminds everyone to

For space weather disasters caused by the sun

Low social awareness

The public knows very little about it

For meteorological disasters that people cannot see and are not familiar with

Once it happens

More likely to have serious impacts and consequences

On the other hand

With the development of technology and society

Compared to before

We are at risk of being affected by space weather disasters

It is also rapidly increasing

As the general public

You should learn more about relevant knowledge

Types, processes, and impacts of solar activity

I have a clear idea in my heart

Truly achieve no panic or chaos in situations

Scientific response

Minimize the impact of space weather disasters as much as possible

Author: Han Dayang, Engineer of the National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center