A giant, hyperactive sunspot that unleashed three X-class solar flares in less than 24 hours last week has continued to swell and is now pointed right at Earth. A period of unsettling quiet suggests that the growing dark patch could be gearing up for another massive eruption, which could smash into our planet with potentially damaging results, Spaceweather.com reported.
Sunspot AR3590 first appeared on the sun's Earth-facing side on Feb. 18 and quickly swelled into a dark patch several times wider than our planet. On Feb. 21, AR3590 spit out a pair of X-class flares — the most powerful type of solar flare — with magnitudes of X1.7 and X1.8. On Feb. 22, the same sunspot unleashed a massive X6.3 flare, the most powerful solar explosion in more than six years.
