Astrophotographer captures close-up view of sunspot region that spawned May's auroras

[LazyHippo]

Sunspot region AR3697 shortly after an X-class solar flare eruption on May 27. (Image credit: Andrew McCarthy/Image cropped in Canva by Daisy Dobrijevic)
 

 

Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has been keeping a watchful eye on sunspot AR3697 as it appears over the sun's southeastern limb. The incredible footage, captured from his backyard in Arizona showcases the turbulent nature of the sunspot region in great detail.

 

"Unlike most celestial objects, the sun looks quite different from day to day, and is filled with exciting events like flares or coronal mass ejections. There's always something interesting to look at!" McCarthy told Space.com in an email.

 

The sunspot region, formerly known as AR3664, garnered the attention of media and skywatchers alike in recent weeks because, during its last transition across the solar disk, it sent a flurry of coronal mass ejections CMEs — expulsions of plasma and magnetic field — toward Earth. When these CMEs struck our planet's magnetosphere, a Category 5 geomagnetic storm (the most powerful class) was triggered, sparking auroras far beyond their normal ranges.

 

More unsettled space weather could be on the horizon as the sunspot region turns to face Earth in the coming days, and McCarthy has been documenting its return with daily timelapses and livestreams that he posts on X.

 

"This sunspot has a history of being highly active, and produced a number of flares and CMEs which are exciting to capture and track," McCarthy told Space.com in an email.

 

McCarthy first documented the sunspot region shortly after it fired off a colossal X-class solar flare, capturing the aftermath of the flare in remarkable detail.