Massive sunspot AR2770 can 'severely affect' Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

An active region of the sun, sunspot AR2770 known as the area of intense and complex magnetic fields has turned toward Earth that can “severely affect” Global Positioning Systems (GPS) connectivity, radio communications, power grids, and satellites, according to NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory press release. In the magnetic map released by the laboratory, two dark cores, each about the size of Mars can be seen flaring the minor B-class solar flares. These strong solar flares with 6,500 degrees Fahrenheit temperature might cause the magnetic complexity on the Earth. 

Astronomer Martin Wise from Florida’s Trenton in the United States of America, US, who captured the sunspot AR2770, reportedly said that the sunspots can cause the disruptions with electrical operations. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory first observed this X8.2-class solar flare with a blend of light at 171- and 304-angstrom wavelengths emerging from the sunspots in September 2017.  

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AR2770 expansion to 50,000 km is "solar flare"

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated that the sunspots AR2770 expansion to 50,000 kilometers in diameter results in sudden flashes of light with excessive brightness that results in a solar flare, as per the release on its website. In fact, the agency observed the M-Class solar flare in October 2019. “For the first time, an M1 (R1-Minor) X-ray flare was observed from the Sun. The region that produced the flare was located just around the NE limb. Although the flare activity has been impulsive, several coronal mass ejections (CME) have been observed from the region in coronagraph imagery. Given the location near the limb, none of the CMEs are expected to be Earth-directed,” it said in the release. As per another report, these solar flares cause "minor waves of ionization to ripple through Earth's upper atmosphere".  

[In this false-color image of the sun, intense magnetic fields are denoted by yellow (- polarity) and green (+ polarity). Credit: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory/ SpaceWeatherArchive]

[M1 (R1-Minor) X-ray flare was observed from the Sun. Credit: Space Weather Prediction Center/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]

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