A recent study published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A suggests that the sun's largest sunspots—dark, cooler areas on the sun's surface—could potentially trigger superflares. These are extremely powerful eruptions that release vast amounts of energy and radiation into space. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany and the University of Colorado in the U.S. examined the sun's eruptive potential, finding new evidence that the sun is still capable of such dramatic events, even if they have not been observed in modern times. The sun is known to produce massive eruptions, which can send charged particles and radiation into space. These events can disrupt satellite communications, power grids, and other technological systems on Earth. One of the most famous examples of such an eruption was the Carrington Event in 1859, a powerful solar storm that caused auroras to be seen as far south as the Caribbean and even caused sparks to fly from telegraph equipment. However, no superflare—defined as a flare much more powerful than the typical ones observed today—has been recorded since the start of the space age about 70 years ago. To better understand the sun's behavior, researchers looked at its "peer group"—other stars similar to the sun—and found that superflares occur roughly once per century on such stars. Evidence from natural archives, such as radioactive isotopes found in ancient trees and ice cores from the Arctic, suggests that Earth has experienced intense solar particle bombardment in the past. However, it remains uncertain whether these events were caused by superflares or other types of solar activity. In their study, scientists led by Natalie Krivova analyzed data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory between 2010 and 2016. They looked at the energy released by the 300 most powerful solar flares recorded during that time and compared it to the size of the sunspots associated with those flares. They found that the largest sunspots—such as the one observed in April 1947, which covered about 0.6% of the sun's visible surface—could, in rare cases, be the starting point for superflares. While the sun has not yet produced a superflare in recorded history, the study suggests it has the potential to do so under the right conditions.