A photographer captures a sunset in Portugal with bright sunspots.
Photographer Miguel Claro recorded evening sunspot images near Noudar Castle, Barranco, Portugal, Space reported on November 15. Sunspots are cooler dark areas on the surface of the Sun, resulting from interactions with the surrounding magnetic field. They tend to appear in areas with high magnetic field activity.
The photo was taken on September 7, Claro said. “I was standing about 2.1km from the castle and captured this scene with a 600mm telephoto lens. Visible three large black dots AR2679, AR2674 and AR2673 on the Sun behind the shadow of man”he added.
Earth-sized dark spot AR2673 emitted the strongest X-class solar flare in more than a decade on September 6. Hours later, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, a joint NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) project, observed a coronal flare (CME), a phenomenon that released energetic particles , appearing at the location of a solar flare.
The solar wind from the eruption reached Earth, causing a G4-class geomagnetic storm. X-rays and ultraviolet rays ionize the upper part of Earth’s atmosphere, interfering with shortwave radio in Europe, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Center for Space Weather Prediction.
