Large sunspot groups form on Sun’s eastern limb

July 28, 2011 –  BIG SUNSPOTS: After more than a week of quiet, solar activity is picking up. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring two big sunspot groups now emerging over the sun’s eastern limb. The leading sunspot group, AR1260, is crackling with M- and C-class solar flares among a quartet of Earth-sized cores. Not far behind, sunspot AR1261 is larger and may harbor energy for flares of its own. At the moment, these two sunspot groups are too far off disk-center to affect Earth, but this will change in the days ahead. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments. –Space Weather

   

 New sunspots 1260 and 1261 pose a growing threat M-class flares. A solar wind stream flowing from this coronal hole could reach Earth on July 30th or 31st. Credit: SDO/AIA.