12:55 PM | The formerly massive and explosive sunspot AR1429 has reappeared on the sun, but in a much weakened state
Paul Dorian
Discussion
The formerly massive and explosive sunspot called AR1429 has rotated all the way around the back side of the sun and has re-emerged on the near side of the sun - and it is hardly even noticeable. This is now not quite the same sunspot that wreaked havoc on the Earth’s magnetic field about a month ago as it directly faced the Earth for a couple of weeks. AR1429 was about four times the size of the Earth when it first appeared on the sun in early March and maintained that size until it disappeared to the back side of the sun. Last week, NASA detected some activity from the sunspot while it was still on the far side of the sun and it was feared that it could reappear and have another shot at the Earth as an active sunspot. Instead, it decayed substantially during that trip around the sun, and is just a shadow of its former self. As a result, solar activity is currently quite low and is expected to remain low for the next several days.