Stargazing in March: The Sun’s fury

Like rubber bands wrapped around our local star, magnetic fields get wound up as the Sun rotates, and – after years of increasing tension – something has to give, writes Nigel Henbest

The Sun (Getty Images)

With the spring equinox this month, we’re feeling the Sun more strongly week by week. But the Sun is hotting up in other ways, too, as its surface suffers more and more severe storms.

The most obvious sign of its malaise was an angry black wound that appeared on the Sun’s shining face last month. The sunspot was 10 times the size of the Earth: so large that it was seen by the Perseverance rover on Mars. And on 22 February, this region erupted in the biggest explosion the Solar System has seen in six years.

The driving force behind the Sun’s fury is magnetism. Like rubber bands wrapped around our local star, magnetic fields get wound up as the Sun rotates, and – after years of increasing tension - something has to give.