A strange spot was noticed on the Sun

Astronomers have recorded an unusual phenomenon on the surface of our star - a sunspot that has existed for about two months, which significantly exceeds the typical "lifespan" of such formations. This phenomenon could potentially set a new longevity record not observed by scientists for centuries.

The unusual dark giant has been assigned the official identifier AR 14100. Located in the northern hemisphere of the Sun, just north of the equator, the spot first came into researchers' field of view on April 5. After its first appearance, it temporarily disappeared, moving to the side of the star not visible from Earth.

Scientists again detected AR 14100 on April 28, and then on May 26. During the observation period, the object demonstrated dynamic changes in size. The peak of development occurred in early May, when the diameter of the spot reached a colossal 140 thousand kilometers - equivalent to eleven diameters of our planet. At present, the size of the anomaly has decreased by about half, but it continues to maintain stability.

For comparison: ordinary sunspots exist for no more than a week, and even the largest of them rarely "live" longer than two weeks. Establishing an absolute historical record for longevity is difficult due to the limited reliability of ancient observations. It was previously believed that the record holder was a spot observed for 18 months in 1840-1841, but later studies showed that this was a series of different spots that sequentially appeared in the same region of the solar surface.

The officially recognized longevity record holder among sunspots is an object observed in 1919 that existed for 134 days (more than four months).

Despite the gradual decrease in size, AR 14100 demonstrates "surprising stability" and shows no signs of disappearing soon. However, to overcome the historical record, it still needs to "live" for several more months, reports the scientific portal Live Science.