Giant Sunspot and Solar Flares

From Spaceweather.com
SOLAR FLARE AND RADIO BLACKOUT: Giant sunspot AR3354 erupted on June 29th (1415 UT), producing an M3.8-class solar flare (movie) and a shortwave radio blackout over the Atlantic Ocean (map). We do not yet know if the explosion hurled a CME toward Earth. Confirmation awaits fresh data from SOHO coronagraphs. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text

GIANT SUNSPOT ALERT: When the week began, sunspot AR3354 didn't exist. Now it is 10 times wider than Earth and still growing. The sunspot burst into view on June 27th, breaching the surface of the sun, then blossoming into a giant over the next 48 hours:

If you have eclipse glasses, put them on and take a look. AR3354 can be seen without any magnification. It is a "naked eye" sunspot.

Covering an area of the sun more than 1/3rd of the historical Carrington sunspot, AR3354 has developed an unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field. This means it poses a threat for X-class solar flares. Any eruptions will be geoeffective as the sunspot is directly facing Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text