Big sunspot sparks solar activity

Spaceweather reports that the sudden emergence of big sunspot 1045 over the weekend has caused a sharp uptick in solar activity.

The active region has produced three M-class and almost a dozen C-class solar flares since it appeared on Saturday.

The strongest blast, an M6-class eruption on February 7th, may have hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth.

High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras in the nights ahead as a result of this activity. Also, ham radio operators are picking up strong solar radio bursts using shortwave receivers.

Sample sounds and images may be found at http://spaceweather.com.