{"id":1669,"date":"2017-01-22T16:43:49","date_gmt":"2017-01-22T16:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.popastro.com\/main_spa1\/solar\/?page_id=1669"},"modified":"2021-08-14T17:57:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T16:57:15","slug":"top-32-largest-sunspots","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/solar\/top-32-largest-sunspots\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 31 largest sunspots"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The usual way of measuring the size of a sunspot group is to express the area it covers in &#8220;millionths&#8221;. A sunspot that covers 1 millionth would cover 0.000001 times the area of the Sun&#8217;s Earth-facing hemisphere. For a sunspot (or sunspot group) to be visible to the protected naked eye it must cover about 300 to 500 millionths or more (by comparison, the Earth would cover 169 millionths). This\u00a0list\u00a0shows all the sunspots\/sunspot groups that have been visible since 1874 and were larger than AR2192.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0<strong>Year:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>\u00a0<strong>Month:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>\u00a0<strong>Day:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>\u00a0<strong>AR No.:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>\u00a0<strong>Sunspot Area (in millionths):<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01905<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0February<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>\u00a05441<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03339<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01905<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0October<\/td>\n<td>19<\/td>\n<td>\u00a05682<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02995<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01917<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0February<\/td>\n<td>14<\/td>\n<td>\u00a07977<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03590<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01917<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0August<\/td>\n<td>9<\/td>\n<td>\u00a08181<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03178<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01925<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0December<\/td>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>\u00a09830<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02934<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01926<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0January<\/td>\n<td>19<\/td>\n<td>\u00a09861<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03716<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01937<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0July<\/td>\n<td>28<\/td>\n<td>\u00a012455<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03303<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01937<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0October<\/td>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>\u00a012553<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03340<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01938<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0January<\/td>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<td>\u00a012673<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03627<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01938<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0July<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<td>\u00a012902<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03379<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01938<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0October<\/td>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<td>\u00a013024<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03003<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01939<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0September<\/td>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>\u00a013394<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03054<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01939<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0September<\/td>\n<td>13<\/td>\n<td>\u00a013405<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02993<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01940<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0January<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td>\u00a013502<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02860<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01941<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0September<\/td>\n<td>21<\/td>\n<td>\u00a013937<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03088<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01946<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0February<\/td>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>\u00a014417<\/td>\n<td>\u00a05202<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01946<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0July<\/td>\n<td>29<\/td>\n<td>\u00a014585<\/td>\n<td>\u00a04720<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01947<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0February<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<td>\u00a014813<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02944<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01947<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0March<\/td>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>\u00a014851<\/td>\n<td>\u00a04554<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01947<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0April<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>\u00a014886<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0<strong>6132 (largest in recent history)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01950<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0February<\/td>\n<td>15<\/td>\n<td>\u00a016410<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02856<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01951<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0May<\/td>\n<td>19<\/td>\n<td>\u00a016763<\/td>\n<td>\u00a04865<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01959<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0January<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td>\u00a019109<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02805<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01968<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0February<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>\u00a021482<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03202<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01982<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0June<\/td>\n<td>14<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03776<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01982<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0July<\/td>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03804<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02870<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01988<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0June<\/td>\n<td>29<\/td>\n<td>\u00a05060<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02900<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01989<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0March<\/td>\n<td>17<\/td>\n<td>\u00a05395<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03600<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01989<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0August<\/td>\n<td>29<\/td>\n<td>\u00a05669<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03080<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a01990<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0November<\/td>\n<td>18<\/td>\n<td>\u00a06368<\/td>\n<td>\u00a03080<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a02014<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0October<\/td>\n<td>27<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02192<\/td>\n<td>\u00a02790<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Sources:<\/strong> Data taken from Spaceweather.com &amp; Spaceweatherlive.com websites.<\/p>\n<p>Next: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/solar\/useful-websites-and-books\/\">Useful websites and books<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The usual way of measuring the size of a sunspot group is to express the area it covers in &#8220;millionths&#8221;. A sunspot that covers 1 millionth would cover 0.000001 times the area of the Sun&#8217;s Earth-facing hemisphere. For a sunspot<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.popastro.com\/solar\/top-32-largest-sunspots\/\"><span>Read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1669","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.2.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The usual way of measuring the size of a sunspot group is to express the area it covers in &quot;millionths&quot;. A sunspot that covers 1 millionth would cover 0.000001 times the area of the Sun&#039;s Earth-facing hemisphere. 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