MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on Thursday shared photos of three large sunspot groups taken earlier this morning.
Sunspots are areas on the Sun’s surface that are relatively cooler and appear dark than their surroundings.
“These patches are roughly the size of Earth, or about 20-40 times larger than a typical spot,” Pagasa shared over Facebook.
“The Sun is entering the Solar Maximum phase of its current solar cycle, where there will be an expected increase in solar activity (e.g., frequent solar flares, increased number of sunspots, and the like),” it added.
Below are images of the Sun shared by Pagasa that show three large sunspot groups:
Solar disc (Photo courtesy of Pagasa)
Sunspots compared to Planets (Photo courtesy of Pagasa)
Sunspot group (Photo courtesy of Pagasa)
Pagasa advised the public to not look at the Sun directly without a special filter to protect their eyes.
RELATED STORIES:
Partial lunar eclipse on November 19 will be tricky to see in PH, says Pagasa
Young solar farmer chasing coal, gas out of energy mix
Asteroid Day: Remembering how close they got to obliterating Earth