A huge black spot has appeared on the sun – and NASA has warned that it could blast solar flares towards Earth.

The sunspot – AR2665 – is 75,000 miles wide, and its black ‘core’ is larger than Earth, according to NASA.

Sunspots are darker regions on the surface of the sun which have intense magnetic fields – and this one is big enough to let off solar flares, NASA has warned.

These can occasionally cause problems with some specialist radio equipment on Earth, and cause aurora (northern lights).

‘It is the first sunspot to appear after the sun was spotless for two days, and it is the only sunspot group on the sun at this moment.

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‘The time-lapse movie shows the spot growing as it rotates into view over a 42-hour period. It could be the source for some solar flares, but it is too early to predict just what it will do. To get a sense of scale, the dark core of the sunspot is larger than Earth.’