After a whole day and a half with no significant solar activity, newly-designated AR3685 — currently the largest active sunspot region on the visible disk as it rounds the east limb — just produced an M7.2 X-ray flare (R2 – Moderate radio blackout). This is on top of the X2.9 flare it produced while it was still on the far side of the limb, suggesting that its transit across the disk will be a busy one. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
Well, that didn't take long: a new active sunspot region just around the east limb (possibly the future AR3683) just produced an X2.9 flare (R3 – Strong radio blackout), with only a 6-hour gap since the last X-class flare (X3.4) from former AR3664, which has rotated beyond the west limb. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
This is likely the return of former AR3654, which produced an M9.5 flare near the end of its last transit across the solar disk; it has clearly continued developing during its rotation around the backside. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
Type II and IV radio sweeps have already been picked up by SWPC, strongly implying that a CME was produced; however, given the region's location around the east limb, it's unlikely to be Earth-directed. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
Looking back through the SWPC archives, the region responsible for this flare might actually be slightly further south than AR3654 was, so it might instead be either old AR3655 or an entirely new active region altogether. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
"The sun produced its biggest flare in nearly two decades Tuesday, just days after severe solar storms pummeled Earth and created dazzling northern lights in unaccustomed places."
AP reports: "The good news is that Earth should be out of the line of fire this time because the flare erupted on a part of the sun rotating away from Earth."
Many folks in the fediverse saw and photographed the extraordinary auroras over the weekend (it was a joy to log in and track the lights as they progressed around the world). In case you missed them, here's a @Flipboard Storyboard from CNN with a collection of images, including shots from Christchurch in New Zealand, Ormont-Dessous in Switzerland and Lake Berryessa in California. Our favorite photo? An incredible shot of a windmill in Aarlanderveen, the Netherlands.
Total cloud cover when I went to bed, no aurora for me last night. Here’s a view of the sun just now and the big spot causing all of the fuss. Desaturated to remove lens aberration colors. #sun#solarFlare#sunSpots
A rare severe geomagnetic storm watch is issued for the first time in nearly 20 years amid "unusual" solar event.
CBS News quotes the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): "Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth's surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations."
On Thursday, May 9, 2024, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch. At least five earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed and expected to arrive as early as midday Friday, May 10, 2024, and persist through Sunday, May 12, 2024. Several strong flares have been observed over the past few days and were associated with a large and magnetically complex sunspot cluster (NOAA region 3664), which is 16 times the diameter of Earth.
Finally! A clear day for some solar imaging and what a view today! My phone has been buzzing all day as all of these spots are firing off solar flares.