The sunspot on Friday (top) and on Saturday (below)

Calcutta, Jan. 15: The ominous giant sunspot continued to dominate solar space today, with just a slight shift of position being detected.

Sunspot 720, that was first visible to the naked eye yesterday morning, didn?t grow in size but it didn?t shrink either. In astronomical terms, its diameter continued to be as large as that of seven earths taken together.

The unusually large sunspot did shift, though, as captured by the satellite pictures. It moved further towards the centre of the sun, as viewed from the earth.

?The spot is very much there,? said Debiprosad Duari, director, research and academics, MP Birla Planetarium. ?We have seen it with solar filters and we?ve been receiving many calls from the morning with people wanting to know more about the sunspot.?

The scare of the sunspot causing solar flares is still very much there. A solar flare is an explosion on the sun when the energy stored in the twisted magnetic fields above the sunspots is suddenly released. Flares produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to x-rays and gamma-rays. ?The flares can give rise to heavy solar winds which may come in contact with the magnetosphere of the earth and hamper radio communication systems. High altitude flights can also come under the scanner,? added Duari.

If the sunspot retains its size, there are heavy chances (85 per cent) of an M-class flare (?medium-sized, capable of causing brief radio blackouts in polar regions of the earth?) in the next 24-48 hours.

There is 25 per cent chance of an X-class flare (?big-sized, capable of causing planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms?), warned scientists on a US-based website keeping a constant eye on the sunspot.