An extremely large group of sunspots has appeared in the
southern hemisphere of the sun, and is currently oriented
directly towards the Earth. The sunspot group, called AR 1520,
is more than 200 000 kilometers wide, more than 20 times the
diameter of the Earth. As of July 11th, it has not released any
solar flares, but has the potential energy to do so. The NOAA
forecasts an 80% chance of an M-Class solar flare and a 15%
chance of an X-Class flare within the next 24 hours. If a large
flare does occur, it could disrupt communications, damage
satellites, and cause power outages and auroras all over the
planet.