Series of powerful flares from hyperactive sunspots occur on Sun (video)

The sunspot called AR3663 and its even larger “brother” AR3664 have been especially active lately and are generating more and more flares, during which coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occur.

AR3663 is considered the most active sunspot of the 25th solar cycle. Over the past couple of days, a powerful X-class flare has already been detected from it. AR3664, in turn, caused an X-flare and several M-class solar flares. According to scientists, both spots are not going to “calm down” in the near future: as they approach solar maximum, the most active period of the approximately 11-year solar cycle, there will be more and more flares.

Since May 3, AR3663 has spawned five X-class solar flares and more than 20 M-class solar flares, far more than any other sunspot in the last seven years, according to spaceweather.com. On May 7 and 8 this spot was also very active.

Meanwhile, AR3664 more than doubled in size in just 48 hours, becoming one of the largest sunspots observed this solar cycle. The increase indicates an increased risk of more powerful solar flares in the coming days, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).

Recall that solar flares are eruptions on the surface of the Sun that emit intense bursts of electromagnetic radiation. They occur when magnetic energy accumulated in the solar atmosphere is released. Solar flares are divided by size into letter groups, with the X-class being the most powerful. Then there are M-class flares, which are 10 times less powerful than X-class flares, followed by C-class flares, which are 10 times weaker than M-class flares. Class B flares are 10 times weaker than Class C flares, and Class A flares are 10 times weaker than Class B flares and have no noticeable effects on Earth. Within each class, numbers from 1 to 10 (and higher for X-class flares) describe the relative strength of the flare.