Sun Produces Highest Number Of Sunspots In June, Raises Solar Storm Concerns
NDTV
More sunspots also signal more coronal mass ejections, which are strong eruptions of the charged particles that make up solar wind that may result in poor space weather on Earth.
The month of June was one of the most frightening months for the solar system. The Sun broke its two-decade record and produced over 160 spots last month. The findings show that the current solar cycle, the 25th since records began, is intensifying considerably more quickly than the American space agency NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had originally projected, as per Space.com.
The Sun is currently on a course to peak at just under 200 monthly sunspots and some scientists believe this peak may occur in one year. This is in contrast to the prediction by space agencies that the highest monthly number of sunspots during the 25th solar cycle's maximum would reach 125.
Solar Physicist Keith Strong took to Twitter and said, "Highest monthly average sunspot number since September 2002. The June 2023([sunspot number) was 163.4, the highest value for over 20 years."
According to Spaceweather.com, on July 2, one of these sunspots, the darker, colder regions of the star's surface that have strong magnetic fields, produced a strong solar flare that briefly cut off radio service in the western United States and over the Pacific Ocean. As the solar cycle nears its peak, such phenomena could start to occur more frequently in some time.
