Dark spot AR3310, a dark region on the Sun, is rotating towards Earth, to the point where it can be seen from Earth without the need for a telescope.

South Korean astronomer Bum-Suk Yeom shared images showing the scale of the dark spot AR3310 compared to the blue planet. “The dark spot on the Sun is visible to the nɑƙeɗ eye and solar filters (or solar glasses). It is located to the left of the center of the Sun’s disk,” Yeom wrote in a social media post on May 23.

The dark spot appears dark because it is cooler than other regions on the Sun’s surface, according to NASA. These cooler spots form where strong magnetic fields hinder heat from the interior of the Sun reaching the surface. Sunspots can sometimes be large enough to be seen with the nɑƙeɗ eye, without the need for a telescope, but eye protection is still necessary to shield the eyes from intense glare.

“The estimated minimum visibility threshold is about 425 parts per million of the visible solar disk (0.04% of the Sun’s disk). The large size of the Sun’s dark spot and favorable weather conditions will enhance the likelihood of seeing them,” said Hisashi Hayakawa, a physicist at Nagoya University in Japan.

The Earth’s surface area accounts for only about 169 parts per million of the solar disk. Bum-Suk estimates that the solar dark spot AR3310 is about four times the size of Earth.

Sunspots can release solar flares, sudden bursts of energy. The strength of a solar flare is classified into different levels: A, B, C, M, and the most intense, X-class flares. The larger and more complex the sunspot, the greater the likelihood of producing solar flares.

A class C solar flare is too weak to significantly impact Earth, while a class M flare can disrupt radio communications at the Earth’s poles. A class X flare has the potential to affect satellites, communication systems, power grids, and most critically, cause power outages or blackouts.