Active Region 1476, a gigantic sunspot

A particularly large and complex sunspot appeared over the left limb of the sun on Saturday, May 5, beginning its two-week trek across the face of the star in conjunction with the sun's rotation. The sunspot, dubbed Active Region 1476, has so far produced seven M-class flares and numerous C-class flares, including two M-class flares on May 9, 2012 that peaked at 8:32 EDT and 10:08 EDT. These flares were all short-lived and there were no associated coronal mass ejections, so we do not expect any geomagnetic storms at Earth.

The upper left corner of this image of the sun, shows the biggest and most complex sun spot visible on the sun as of May 9, 2012. It has produced 7 M-class flares so far, but has not produced any coronal mass ejections that could cause geomagnetic storms near Earth. Credit: NASA/SDO

Active Region 1476 seen in detail. Credit: NASA/SDO

Source: 

• Sunspot Has Produced M-Class Flares, But No CMEs, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, May 10, 2012