Sunspot 1260 has developed a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for powerful X-class solar flares. Such an eruption today would be Earth-directed as the sunspot turns to face our planet.

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© SOHO
Sunspot 1260 is leading a parade of big sunspots across the solar disk--one of the finest displays of solar activity in years. Even the smallest dark cores in these sunspot groups are as wide as planets, and they are crackling with C-class flares. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.

More images: from Efrain Morales Rivera of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; from Rogerio Marcon of Campinas SP Brasil; from John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine; from John Minnerath of Crowheart, Wyoming; from Pepe Manteca of Begues, Barcelona, Spain; from Michael Boschat of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; from Monty Leventhal OAM of Sydney, Australia