"Mars Rover's Mission: Uncovering Hidden Sunspots on the Far Side of the Sun"
NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars is helping scientists track and predict potentially dangerous sunspots on the far side of the sun. By capturing images of the sun's far side with its Mastcam-Z cameras, the rover can detect large sunspots before they become visible from Earth, improving space weather predictions. Perseverance has already spotted two major sunspots that launched powerful solar storms towards Earth. While the rover's images have a low resolution and can only identify sunspots larger than 9,300 miles in diameter, it still captures around 40% of sunspots and most of the ones that could pose a threat. This collaboration between Perseverance and helioseismology provides valuable insights during the solar maximum phase.