SOLAR ACTIVITY INTENSIFIES: Sunspot AR2665, which emerged just as few days ago, has mushroomed into a behemoth nearly as wide as the planet Jupiter. On July 9th the fast-growing sunspot produced an M-class solar flare and a short-lived shortwave radio blackout over east Asia and Australia. Stronger flares and Earth-directed CMEs may be in the offing as AR2665 turns toward our planet in the days ahead. Visit Spaceweather.com for images, movies and updates.

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Above: Amateur astronomer Peter Desypris took this picture of giant sunspot AR2665 on July 9th from Syros island, Greece. Sunspot photo gallery.