An Unusual Alignment Of Sunspots

Like almost everyone else in the world with a solar filter, Alan Friedman of Buffalo, NY, has been watching giant sunspot AR3590. "It's wonderful, as expected," says Friedman, "but yesterday I was surprised to see an unusual line up of sunspots to the left." Note the red box in his Feb. 26th photo of the sun:

Sunspots usually travel along lines of latitude, creating horizontal bands parallel to the sun's equator. Today's line-up is perpendicular to that arrangement. Does it mean anything? Probably not. However, the vertical line might signal something offbeat in the sun's inner magnetic dynamo--the ultimate source of all space weather. Like AR3590, it merits watching.

Source: https://www.spaceweather.com/