2012-10-16 LIGHTBULB ERUPTION HD

 
 Sunspot AR1593, now emerging over the sun's northeastern limb, doesn't look very impressive. Yet two days ago it unleashed a very impressive eruption. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a glowing bulb of plasma more than 100,000 miles across on Oct. 14th:
The eruption occured while AR1592 was still on the farside of the sun, so Earth was not in the line of fire.(Or was it?) AR1592 will spend the next ~12 days facing our planet, setting the stage for geoeffective blasts if the sunspot erupts again.

The paradox and more
Stay tuned