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Patches of the Sun\u2019s surface often show strong magnetic fields. These fields can emerge within a matter of hours, and can decay slowly or quickly, sometimes over days, weeks, or even months. Thanks to a new study about these long-lived active regions<\/a>, we now know much more about the patches where these strong magnetic fields take at least a month to decay.<\/p>\n This study relied on inputs from NASA\u2019s Solar Active Region Spotter citizen science project, which asked volunteers to answer a series of questions about pairs of active region images from NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory.<\/p>\n Project leads Emily Mason (Predictive Science Inc.) and Kara Kniezewski (Air Force Institute of Technology) looked at the data and the analysis done by volunteers. They found that the long-lived active regions produce disproportionately more flares than the shorter-lived regions and are 3-6 times more likely than other active regions to be the source of the most intense kinds of solar flares. These results are a strong indication that long-lived active regions are crucial for predicting space weather and could provide critical information on magnetic fields deeper inside the Sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Solar Active Region Spotter project is now complete, but you can learn more about the results here: https:\/\/www.zooniverse.org\/projects\/eimason\/solar-active-region-spotter\/about\/results<\/a><\/p>\n Explore NASA Citizen Science projects you can join today to help advance our understanding of space weather: https:\/\/go.nasa.gov\/3ZK6nvE.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n