Sun activity archive for December 2023

Sun news for December 31, 2023: New sunspot region to bring excitement in the new year?

Sun news for December 31, 2023. Excitement! EarthSky’s C. Alex Young produced this video. Thanks for watching!

The large sunspot region from the sun’s far side – which we reported earlier this week – is now rotating into view. And it looks to be an active one! Why do we say this? Over the past 24 hours, there’s been a significant flare increase from the sun’s northeastern limb (edge), where the new region will soon become visible. That includes a C9.7 and C8 solar flare in the early morning hours today (December 31). You might say, but wait, those are still just C flares. What’s the big deal? What’s exciting is that the sun is still partially hiding them from view. So they’re larger than we can see, because not all of the flares’ light is reaching us. Both of these flares are almost certainly M flares. This new region might be one we’ve seen before, AR3514, which produced an X flare two weeks ago on December 14, 2023. An exciting possibility: this new region might kick off the new year with a bang! Stay tuned.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is considered low today, with C class flares (though a couple are getting close to M-class size). Both of these flares are coming from the as-yet-unnumbered active region just over the limb. The largest flare in the past 24 hours (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today) was the C9.7 at 8:13 UTC on December 31. During the past day the sun produced 19 C flares, with most coming from AR3530 and the new region in the northeast. AR3530 has rotated out of view over the western limb (edge). In addition to the increased flaring, there were two notable filament eruptions in the north and south at 18 UTC, December 30 and 3:30 UTC, December 31 respectively. The sun has three labeled active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 30, 2023: Huge Prominence!

Sun news for December 30, 2023. The EarthSky sun team produced this video. Thanks for watching!

The sun released a huge prominence eruption around the time of this writing, at about 8:30 UTC December 30. It came from an erupting filament near the southeast limb (edge). It quickly expanded into a massive structure longer than 200 Earths lined up, or about 800,000 miles (1.3 million kilometers). That’s long … about as long as the sun is wide. This eruption released a large blob of solar plasma or a coronal mass ejection (CME). We don’t have much imagery of the CME yet, but more than likely it’s not Earth-directed, given the eruption’s location. While current flare activity is low, we may see some significant action in three to four days. There’s a large sunspot that we can see via helioseismology that is making its way to the Earth-facing side of the sun. This region may be the remains of sunspot region AR3514, the recent X flare producer from December 14, 2023. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity continues at low levels with C class flares. During the past day the sun produced 10 C flares. The largest was a C6.6 flare from active region AR3530 at 20:17 UTC on December 29. AR3530 produced nine of the ten flares during our observation period from 11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today. The sun has five labeled active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 29, 2023: Parker Solar Probe touches the sun, again

Early this morning, Parker Solar Probe reached perihelion – its closest point to the sun in orbit – for the 18th time since its launch in 2018. The first spacecraft to touch the sun is now approximately 5 million miles (8 million km) from our star. And it’s going to get closer. After a flyby of Venus in late 2024, its 22nd to its final (26th) perihelions will be its closest yet, each at around 4.3 million miles (6.9 million km) from the sun’s surface. Amazing! By the way, Parker Solar Probe travels at a speed of 371 thousand miles per hour (597 thousand kph).
Last 24 hours: The sun welcomed Parker Solar Probe with a pick-up in the action. Although activity is still classed as low, we saw 15 C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, in contrast to just two the day before. We also saw an almost-M flare, with today’s most active region AR3533 firing a C9.8 flare at 7:55 UTC this morning. The effects of the flare on Earth did not reach the R1 (minor) radio blackout level, but some blackout effects occurred in the South Indian Ocean off the east coast of Madagascar. We expect that further increases in activity are on their way, as larger active regions now on the sun’s far side are approaching the eastern horizon. For now, the sun has six active regions visible from Earth.

Sun news for December 28, 2023: Our star shows its magnetic magic

The sun is about 330,000 times more massive than Earth. As the pull of gravity is directly related to an object’s mass, the sun’s gravity is immense – strong enough to hold in orbit the solar system’s planets and moons, millions of rocky asteroids, and an untold number of icy comets. Yet at 8 UTC this morning, a wisp of plasma seemed to defy the sun’s mighty pull, floating serenely above our star’s surface. How? What gave the wisp enough oomph to fight against the sun’s gravity? The answer is magnetism. Magnetic fields of varying strength cover the sun and provide most of its activity. And in this case, these invisible magnetic fields levitated the blob of sun-stuff from lower down in the solar atmosphere to high up in the corona. So … not magic, just magnetism! Often, especially nearing Solar Maximum (which is coming as early as 2024), these magnetic fields have enough energy in them to launch that plasma into space. That would be what’s known as a filament eruption with a coronal mass ejection (CME).
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low. Only two C flares were produced between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. Both events came from a newcomer sunspot group, AR3534. The largest event was a C1.9 flare at 19:41 UTC on December 27. AR3534 has been the only active region flaring in the past couple of days, and it will likely dissipate before reaching the southwest limb. AR3551 remains the largest active region on the solar disk, but has stayed quiet over the past day. AR3529 is about to depart over the southwest limb (edge). But action is on its way to the Earth-facing side of our sun; larger active regions now on the sun’s far side are approaching the eastern horizon. For now, the sun has six active regions visible from Earth.

Sun news for December 27, 2023: The sun takes a power nap

It’s been a quiet day on the sun. In the past 24 hours, there were a few C flares and even a smaller B flare. Even the prolific jet-producing regions and filament eruptions are mostly gone. We have some beautiful prominences waiting on the limbs and a bit of jet activity. And, as always, we anticipate more to come. A few days from now, a new coronal hole will rotate into a prime spot for spraying Earth with fast solar wind, hopefully provoking auroral displays. On the far side of the sun, that large sunspot group we talked about a few days ago is now less than a week away. A few new sunspot regions are about to get their designations. So it’s been a day of calm solar seas. But the potential for some serious action is looming!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity continued at low levels during the past day. The sun produced five C flares and a B flare between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The largest event was a C2.3 flare at 11:08 UTC on December 26 from active region AR3526. There’s an unlabeled newcomer in the southeast. The lead flare producer was an as-yet-unnumbered incoming active region located on the southeast limb (edge) with three flares. The sun now has six active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 26, 2023: Solar Max is on its way

For the past 24 hours, the sun has been relatively calm. But Solar Max is on its way, now expected in 2024. Forecasters were predicting 2025 for the peak of the current 11-year sun cycle, Cycle 25. But the current cycle has already outpaced predictions, both in sunspot number and in the number of larger M and X flares. So the past day has been C flares only. But remember the 3 M flares of the day before? And the X flare before that? We’re seeing exactly what’s expected as we approach Solar Max: periods of moderate-to-high activity followed by some lulls. Now the lulls are coming less often. And the moderate-to-high periods are happening more often and with greater intensity. It’s the speed at which this is happening—stronger activity, shorter lulls—that points to a peak in 2024. Also … the past day’s lull in flaring doesn’t mean a lull in all sun activity. Though we’ve observed only C flares in the past day, we’ve also seen lots of solar jets on the disk and both limbs (edges) of the sun. And there’s a large amount of filament and prominence action, including a solid prominence eruption from the sun’s northeast limb. So don’t let the seeming calm fool you—Solar Max is on its way!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is back to low levels during the past day. Only  11 C flares were produced between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The largest event was a C4.5 flare at 5:01 UTC on December 26 by an unlabeled newcomer on the southwest.  Active region AR3529 produced four flares in the past 24 hours. The sun has seven active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 25, 2023: Flare and filament fun

The sun kicked it up a notch over the past 24 hours, to give us a fun day of flares and filaments together. Starting at the beginning of the observation period (11 UTC December 24), sunspot group AR3529 released an M2.9 flare. It was followed a few hours later with an M2.6. Almost simultaneous to the M2.9 flare a huge filament north of the M2.9 flare lifted off the sun. Another filament erupted from the eastern limb also nearly simultaneously to the M2.6 flare on the other side of the sun. These filament and flares while nearly simultaneous were coincidental. The M1.1 also had a filament eruption around the same time. But these two events were at the same location, so, in this case, they were related to each other. There were several other smaller, more subtle filament eruptions. Let’s see if the sun has more excitement for us in the coming day!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity reached moderate levels with three M flares. The largest event was an M2.9 at 11:09 TUC on December 24 from AR3529. The region produced an M2.6 at 16:37 UTC. A smaller M1.1 flare came from the southeast limb at 19:21 UTC. All three flares produced radio blackouts over South Africa, South America, and the South Pacific respectfully. The sun has seven active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 24, 2023: Something big this way comes

The title is a bit of word play from a famous Ray Bradbury story. A big group of sunspots may be on its way! When lots of magnetic fields collect in a small area near the sun’s visible surface, we get a sunspot. And wherever they are on the sun, in our view or not, they create disturbances inside the sun that bounce around. These disturbances can be seen as ripples (waves) in the light coming from the sun that are seen from Earth, even when the ripples originate from the far side. That’s exactly what is happening today. There’s a large magnetic field concentration on the other side of the sun, directly opposite the Earth-facing side. Using a technique akin to seismology on Earth – called helioseismology (“sun” seismology) – allows us to see this large sunspot group. This region could decay before it reaches us, but – given its size – there’s a good chance it’ll survive to greet us soon, in about a week.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity on the near side is low, with 13 C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, and no flaring and no big eruptions. The biggest flare was a C3.8 from sunspot region AR3529 at 8:06 UTC on December 24. The sun has eight active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 23, 2023: Filament story

Sun news for December 22, 2023. EarthSky’s sun team author C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Check out the filament eruption near the center of the sun’s disk. We often see the most spectacular filament eruptions at the limb (edge). When the cold, dark background of space is behind them, dark filaments appear as brighter loop-like structures, which we call prominences. But when filaments are on the disk, they can appear dark. Like sunspots, they’re typically cooler than the surrounding solar plasma. So filaments can be hard to see, depending on the wavelength of light observed. If we look at it with H-alpha, like in the image from Mario Rana from December 22, the filament is barely visible. Looking at it in the 193-angstrom wavelength of SDO or SUVI, the filament is much darker in contrast to the rest of the sun. In today’s sun news video, using the 193-angstrom images, we can see the faint filament and then watch it erupt into space!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity levels are back to low, with only seven C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The largest flare was a C3.1 from active sunspot region AR3530 at 9:14 UTC on December 23. Activity was spread between AR3519, AR3526, AR3528 and AR3530. The sun has nine active regions on its Earth-facing side. Two are newcomers, AR3532 on the southwest and AR3533 on the northeast.

Sun news for December 22, 2023: Solstice solar jet party!

Sun news for December 22, 2023. Solar jet party! EarthSky’s sun team – C. Alex Young and Raul Cortes produced this video. EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd hosted it.

Happy December Solstice! To celebrate, the sun is having a solar jet party. Solar jets are tiny, narrow explosions of solar material that may help to explain some of the biggest mysteries of the sun. They might be a source of energetic particles and disturbances in the solar wind. There are lots of notable ones on the sun today, with great examples coming from AR3519, AR3529, and just north of AR3521. You can learn more about solar jets and search for them yourself as part of the Solar Jet Hunter citizen science project.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate after an isolated M3.3 flare from AR3519 at 0:04 UTC on December 22. This caused an R1 (minor) radio blackout affecting an area over New Caledonia in the South Pacific Ocean. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, the sun produced 17 flares: the M3.3 flare plus 16 Cs. The lead flare producer was sunspot group AR3519 with 10 Cs and the M flare.

Sun news for December 21, 2023: Bam! Filament eruption with M4 flare

Bam! A filament running from the south to the west of AR3519 erupted earlier today. This was followed by an M4.2 flare from AR3519. The event is under analysis to determine if it produced a coronal mass ejection (CME) that could be heading our way. The powerful M flare has brought the current sun activity level to moderate, just shy of high (reached when we see an M5 flare or higher). AR3519 is about to rotate out of view, but the solar disk is peppered with many more sunspot regions; the sun is really showing what it means to be near solar maximum, expected as early as 2024.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate after the production of an M4.2 flare by AR3519 at 5:38 UTC on December 21. Shortly after the flare, an R1 (minor) radio blackout affected an area over the South Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia. Alongside the M flare, the sun produced 16 C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The lead flare producer was AR3529 with six C flares. This is also the largest active region currently on the Earth-facing side of the sun, comprising of 22 individual sunspots on an overall area of more than three Earth surface areas. If you wear the proper eye protection, the region is visible with the unaided eye. The sun currently has nine active regions in view, including a newcomer on the northeast limb (edge) labeled AR3531.

Sun news for December 20, 2023: Huge sunspot group growing fast

Sunspot region AR3529 has caught our eye. It emerged quickly over the last few days, growing in size and complexity. And it almost doubled in size over the past 24 hours, with its surface area now equivalent to that of three Earths! It’s also developed a fairly high gamma magnetic complexity (the more magnetically complex an active region is, the greater its chance of producing powerful flares). The video above shows the sunspot group in visible light and extreme ultraviolet light, which helps to show its growth in size and activity. It also helps to illustrate the definition of an active region; it’s not a sunspot, but a group of interacting sunspots, and it includes the loop structure that extends from the lower atmosphere (the solar photosphere, or visible surface) to the sun’s upper atmosphere (its mysterious corona).
Last 24 hours: Sun activity remains low. The sun produced a total of 17 C flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, the largest event a C8.3 from AR3521 at 8:54 UTC this morning. With four other flares above a C7 level, sun activity isn’t far from moderate. The lead flare producer of the period was AR3521 with six C flares. The sun currently has nine labeled active regions on its Earth-facing side. There is a newcomer on the northeast limb (edge), AR3530.

Sun news for December 19, 2023: More beautiful auroras as storming comes to an end

After another night of mesmerising auroral displays during a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm, action at Earth has finally calmed. This fantastic show came after a period of crazy activity on the sun. As the effects of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and fast solar wind fade, more action seems to be on the way; let’s see what our star next has in store for us.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is back to low, but action seems to be picking up. With prominences adorning the limbs (edges) of our star, fresh sunspot groups seem to be just out of view. In fact, incoming sunspots have been observed with helioseismology over the horizon on the eastern limb, soon to rotate into view. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, 12 C flares were fired. The largest was a C7.4 flare, fired at 3:04 UTC on December 19 by sunspot group AR3528. This active region was the lead flare producer of the period with five Cs. AR3520 was close behind with four C flares. The sun currently has nine labeled active regions on its Earth-facing side, including three newcomers: AR3527 in the west, AR3528 close to the central meridian in the northeast, and AR3529 in the southeast.

Sun news for December 18, 2023: Night #2 for great auroras!

It’s been two fabulous night of auroras! At the time of this writing (11 UTC on Monday, December 18), Earth is experiencing yet more geomagnetic storming, due to coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and high speed solar wind from a coronal hole. The storming is at G2 (moderate) levels at this time. Aurora reports were arguably fewer Sunday night (December 17-18) than Saturday night (December 16-17). But both nights were grand! And we might see auroral activity later today. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity due to flares is moderate with one M1.1 flares and 12 C flares observed. The largest event was an M1.1 flare from sunspot region AR3520 at 20:08 UTC December 17. AR3520 produced five flares including the M1.1. There is significant activity beyond the west limb (edge), most likely due to AR3514 acting up. Several eruptions are visible from this area in 304-angstrom light from SDO and GOES-16. The Earth-facing side of the sun currently has six active regions.

Sun news for December 17, 2023: Auroras! And more coming …

We’ve got auroras! One or more of the anticipated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from December 14 and 15 may have reached Earth. At the time of this writing (11 UTC on Sunday, December 17), we are experiencing a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm and we are starting to see some aurora reports. The reports are mostly from Canada and Alaska. Over the next day we will wait to see if there are any signs of additional CME impacts and resulting geomagnetic storming and auroras. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity due to flares is low with 16 C-class flares observed. The largest event was a back-to-back set of flares from sunspot region AR3514, a C8.4 and C8.1 at 13:19 and 14:12 UTC respectively. AR3514 produced most of the flares at 14 of 16. It has almost completely rotated out of view over the west limb. It has decayed, losing its delta region, but this sunspot group still has the potential for some significant flaring. The Earth-facing side of the sun currently has nine active regions.

We're on!
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Northeast of Strathmore Alberta #Aurora #Auroraborealis #northernlights pic.twitter.com/yWaGfITCld

— Harlan Thomas (@theauroraguy) December 17, 2023

Woohoo! She’s dancing in Central Alberta now. #TeamTanner #Aurora @TamithaSkov @chunder10 @scottrockphoto @PeakToSailPhoto @hillsblockview pic.twitter.com/6ad856jUaC

— Dar Tanner (@dartanner) December 17, 2023

The aurora in Alaska went nuts tonight, wow! pic.twitter.com/1L5GSLvEqB

— Vincent Ledvina (@Vincent_Ledvina) December 17, 2023

Decent aurora potential now if you’re in Alaska or Siberia… Europe get ready for a potential mid-latitude aurora breakout, although we need to monitor activity over the next several hours. Nice substorm in GOES Mag, AE is healthy… pic.twitter.com/lPrBrtqrVR

— Vincent Ledvina (@Vincent_Ledvina) December 17, 2023

Sun news for December 16, 2023: A cascade of CMEs coming. Aurora alert!

Today’s sun news, with EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd, our founder and Editor-in-Chief.

Big alert for aurora chasers! A cascade of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is headed toward Earth. You might recall the biggest X flare  of Solar Cycle 25 so far – produced by active region AR3514 – earlier this week, on December 14. This region also produced three M flares. And, after modeling and analysis, the CMEs from all these events were found to be coming our way. They’ll reach Earth with a glancing blow by mid-to-late today (December 16), bringing conditions for  G1 (minor) geomagnetic storming. Please note! There is no danger to us on Earth! But we can expect beautiful auroral displays at high to mid-latitudes. A G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm could occur tomorrow morning early (possibly during the day for the Americas). So bring out your cameras and polish your lenses. Auroras are coming.
Last 24 hours: Over the past day, sun activity has gone back to low-level flaring. The sun produced only C flares during the 24-hour period (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). Our hero of this week, active region AR3514, was the lead flare producer of the past day, once again producing almost all the flares. It blasted 14 out of the 15 flares of the day. And it produced the largest explosion of the past day, a C5.5, at 21:29 UTC on December 15. This region is heading to the far side of our sun, carried by the sun’s rotation and is close to the solar horizon now on the southwest. It has the potential for more C, M and X flares. But it will soon be lost behind the solar horizon. Farewell AR3514! Shall we meet again? The sun currently bears seven labeled active regions, in all. There’s a promising newcomer on the Earth-viewed solar disk now, by the way. It’s labeled AR3521, and you’ll find it on the sun’s northeast limb, the part of the sun just now coming into view.

Sun news, for December 15, 2023: BAM! Biggest X flare in years!

An update on the X flare, with EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd, our founder and Editor-in-Chief.

Wow! Sunspot region AR3514 just released an X flare – the biggest of all the flares on the scale. And it wasn’t just an X flare. At X2.8, it was the most powerful flare we’ve seen since 2017. It was blasted at 16:47 UTC (10:47 a.m. CST) on December 14, and it came from the same region that released a very strong M flare earlier yesterday. The X flare caused an R3 (strong) radio blackout over the Americas, with NOAA calling it ‘likely one of the largest solar radio events ever recorded’. The flare might have sent a coronal mass ejection, or CME, our way. We’ll have to wait and see what the space weather forecasters have to say. If it is coming our way, we could see some amazing auroral displays!
Last 24 hours: Solar activity is high after the X2.8 flare. Its producer, AR3514, didn’t stop there; it blasted 3 more M flares, as well as 11 C flares. That’s 15 out of the 16 total flares produced by the sun between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. So it’s pretty clear who our lead flare producer was! Here’s a breakdown of AR3514’s biggest events:
M2.3 flare at 13:48 UTC on December 14, causing an R1 (minor) radio blackout over the east coast of Brazil.
X2.8 flare at 17:02 UTC on December 14, causing an R3 (strong) radio blackout over the west coast of Chile.
M6.3 flare at 7:15 UTC on December 15, causing an R1 (minor) radio blackout over the South Indian Ocean.
M6.9 flare at 7:34 UTC on December 15, causing another R1 (minor) radio blackout over the South Indian Ocean.
This sunspot is now showing a beta-delta magnetic complexity, which indicates a good potential for more M and X flares. While you might expect it to be a huge sunspot, it’s actually one of the smallest of the sun’s eight currently labeled regions. Small but mighty! Two more regions arrived and were labeled today: meet AR3518 and AR3519.

Sun news, earlier on December 14, 2023: High activity and a beautiful prominence

After a quiet couple of days, the sun has woken up! Sun activity is considered high now due to an M5.8 flare, which is edging up there toward an X flare. The blast occurred at 7:44 UTC this morning (December 14). Sunspot region AR3514 produced it. And in the southwest, we saw a gorgeous rope of solar material billowing out from beyond the solar horizon. It likely formed following an almost-M flare from sunspot region AR3511, which is keeping up its prolific activity even now that it has rotated out of view.
Last 24 hours: Solar activity is high, due to the M5.8 flare blasted by sunspot region AR3514. Shortly after the flare, at Earth, a momentary R2 (moderate) radio blackout was registered affecting an area on the South Indian Ocean over Port Louis Mauritius. The sun produced 12 flares between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today: the above-mentioned M plus 11 Cs. The leading flare producer of the period was sunspot region AR3514, which produced seven flares, including the M. The sun bears today six labeled active regions on its Earth-viewed side.

Sun news for December 13, 2023: A quiet day on our star

Zzzzz … it’s been a quiet day on our star. Only C flares were produced over the past day, and – with most of the visible sunspots remaining stable or decaying – NOAA’s spaceweather forecasters have significantly lowered the likelihood of C, M, and X flares over the next few days. Our view of the sun from the SDO spacecraft was partially blocked by the moon earlier today (see below), and with activity so low it seems we didn’t miss much!
Last 24 hours: Solar activity remains low. The only action of note came in the southeast, where a fiery prominence appeared over the horizon, and an exploding filament fired out some plasma. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, we observed 12 C flares and two Bs. The largest was a C8.3, blasted at 13:42 UTC by an as-yet-unlabeled newcomer sunspot group on the northwest limb (edge). The lead flare producer was AR3513 with four C flares. And, even though we said goodbye to it yesterday, the ever-prolific AR3511 blasted three faint C flares from beyond the solar horizon – it just doesn’t want to leave! And, speaking of goodbyes, we’ve seen our last of yesterday’s diving comet. It hasn’t come out on the other side of the sun, so it clearly didn’t survive its close encounter with our star. The large coronal hole we’ve been watching is showing signs of decay, but two new coronal holes have just emerged – check them out below. The sun currently bears six labeled active regions, including a newcomer on the northeast limb (edge) now numbered AR3518.

Sun news for December 12, 2023: Watch a comet plunge toward the sun

Check out these images of a comet diving towards the sun! We first reported on the comet yesterday, and as it continued its trip towards our star it became visible in the SOHO spacecraft’s LASCO C2 imager. Doesn’t it look gorgeous? It has since disappeared behind LASCO C2’s occulter – a disk that blocks out the bright center of the sun – and that’s probably the last we’ll see of it. While we’ll keep watching to see if it survives the encounter, it will in all likelihood vaporize as it gets closer to the sun. What a way to go!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is back to low, with 15 C flares and one B. Today we saw the last flare from prolific sunspot region AR3511 before it rotated out of view on the southwest limb (edge). But it stayed productive until the end, firing eight of today’s 16 flares to spend yet another day as the leading flare producer. Farewell, AR3511! Our attention now turns to its potential successor, AR3514. This region produced the second-most flares over the past day, including the day’s largest: a C9.0, blasted at 3:38 UTC this morning. Plus, it is now located at a geoeffective position, meaning that any sun-stuff it fires into space will head straight towards Earth’s magnetic field. Speaking of, we saw an eruption of solar material elsewhere on the sun this morning. After a big filament explosion on the southwest quadrant, plasma started lifting out of the sun’s atmosphere at around 8:09 UTC. This soared into space as a coronal mass ejection (CME). We will wait to see what the specialists say about whether this blast could make its way to Earth. There are currently five active regions on the sun’s Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 11, 2023: Check out these 2 prominences!

Sun activity continues at moderate levels. More about that below. And great prominences – huge ropes of solar material and magnetic fields, many times Earth’s diameter – could be seen over the past day, in all directions around the sun’s visible edge, north, south, east and west. Then this morning (8:53 UTC on December 11), the sun released two prominences simultaneously, one at the solar north pole and the other at the solar south pole. You can see them in the video above, or in the image below. It looked as if our star decided to fling two arms open simultaneously into space. Lovely …
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is still moderate , thanks to an M1.4 flare from sunspot region AR3511. It happened at 22:43 UTC on December 10. The blast created conditions on Earth for an R1 (minor) radio blackout over an empty patch of ocean in the South Pacific. Over the past day (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today), we saw 21 flares in total, 20 Cs and one M. Lead flare producer was guess who? Yes! Active region AR3511 blasted 12 flares out of the total 21 flares of the period, the M included. AR3511 has put on a great show in recent days. But it’s now nearly gone, headed behind the sun’s west limb, about to be carried out of view by the sun’s rotation. The sun currently has seven active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 10, 2023: Before it departs, AR3511 blasts 2 more M flares

Today’s top news: Sun activity is back to moderate with two more M flares from sunspot region AR3511. Moderate today with two M flares? But high yesterday with just one? Yes. The reason is that the M flares of the past day weren’t as strong. The first was an M1.0 flare (blasted at 13:19 UTC on December 9). And the second was an M2.4 flare produced this morning (3:53 UTC on December 10). Meanwhile, the earlier M flare from AR3511 was a big one! It registered M5.4, close to the X flare level, which is the strongest category of solar flare. You can read about it below. It pumped solar activity overall up to high yesterday. All in all, this sunspot region has remained active. But AR3511 is now located very close to the sun’s southwest limb (edge). The sun’s rotation will carry it out of view in the next couple of days. Will it explode an X flare before departing?
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is now considered moderate, due to AR3511’s two M flares. But sun flaring activity, overall, slightly reduced over the past day (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). We’ve had recent days of more than 20 flares per day. This past day, the sun exploded just 16 flares in total, two Ms and 14 Cs. AR3511 once again leads flaring production with 11 flares in total, two Ms and 11 Cs. Its two Ms produced corresponding R1 (minor) radio blackouts. The first one affected an area over the South Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Brazil, and the second was registered affecting the west coast of Australia. The sun currently has seven active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 9, 2023: Big M flare from AR3511

EarthSky sun news author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Sun activity has jumped to high over the past day, thanks to an M5.4 flare blasted out by sunspot region AR3511. The blast happened late in the day yesterday (23:07 UTC on December 8). It caused a temporary R2 (moderate) radio blackout over French Polynesia, which is a collection of more than 100 islands in the South Pacific. This sunspot region, AR3511, emerged on the Earth-facing side of the sun around December 4, 2023, amid a group of spots. As the sun has rotated, we’ve watched it move across the sun’s visible face. And – since December 3 – it has gotten increasingly active and has become very active over the past day. Will a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the M5.4 flare strike Earth and bring us beautiful auroras? Nope. When the M5.4 flare occurred, the sunspot was already too far west on the sun to be capable of affecting Earth. At present, no CMEs are headed Earth’s way.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is now considered high, due to the M5.4 flare from AR3511. It produced the greatest number of flares during the past day (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today), along with another active region, AR3513. A second M flare reinforced the high sun activity level. It was thanks to AR 3511 again, blasting out an M1.5 flare at 9:55 UTC on December 9. A corresponding R1 (minor) radio blackout affected the southwest area of the African continent over Zimbabwe and Mozambique. In all, AR3513 sparked seven C flares. Total flaring production during the past day was 23 flares: two Ms and 21 Cs. Otherwise, fiery activity continued over the past day on the northwest limb via prominences provoked by flares on the far side of our sun. Several filament eruptions occurred during the day on the Earth-viewed side of our sun. The most recent was a  filament eruption on the southeast quadrant at 7:20 UTC on December 9, which lifted plasma and hurled a huge prominence into space. None of the filament eruptions during the period have a coronal mass ejection (CME) component heading our way. A new, large coronal hole is forming on the southeast quadrant. This may start sending its fast solar wind as soon as it moves into a geoeffective position. The sun currently has eight active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 8, 2023: More prominence and filament fun

EarthSky sun news author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

The filament eruptions keep on coming. A massive prominence (a filament that hangs over the sun’s edge from our perspective) lifted off the southwest limb at around 17 UTC on December 7. This huge rope of plasma and magnetic fields carried billions of tons of solar material out into space at millions of miles an hour. The scale of this structure is truly breathtaking when compared to Earth, as you can see in image below. Just like yesterday’s eruption, it extended to a length comparable to that of the sun’s diameter (about 865,000 mi or 1.4 million km) before flying off into space. Another filament from the northwest lifted plasma from the sun’s lower atmosphere, the chromosphere, into the upper atmosphere, the corona, between 23:48 UTC and 4:30 UTC overnight. Both eruptions created coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that were imaged by the SOHO spacecraft, and we await analysis from space weather specialists to determine if either could be heading toward Earth, although this is unlikely. Just before those two eruptions, the the spacecraft’s telescopes observed a lopsided halo CME, but given that no source was spotted on the Earth-facing disk, it was determined to be have been fired from the sun’s reverse side.

Sun news for December 7, 2023: Prominent prominences and filaments

EarthSky sun news author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Today is a day for filaments and prominences – that is, huge ropes of solar material and magnetic fields extending from the sun’s surface. Several very large and active ones erupted in the north, east and west. Most notably, a huge one erupted off the east limb (edge), before an even bigger one followed in the north. These structures are unimaginably big; the one in the north extends to a length of at least 1.4 million kilometers (800,000 miles). That is about the diameter of the sun itself! And both consist of billions of tons of solar plasma, threaded with the sun’s magnetic fields. When prominence eruptions show a twisting motion, as you can see in the video above, that’s the magnetic field of the structure unraveling like an uncoiling rope and releasing its built-up energy. You might also notice a bowl-like structure supported by a dark string that extends down to the sun. See the image below. Conspiracy theorists love to describe this as a spaceship being fueled by the sun. But it’s a known structure – called a coronal cavity – that sits up in the outer layer of the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, over a filament or prominence. So, while a thrilling idea, it is not a spaceship!
Last 24 hours: An isolated M flare has kept sun activity at moderate. Between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today, we observed 15 flares. AR3513, yesterday’s most active region, kept up its activity, producing the largest flare of the period: an M2.3 at 21:44 UTC on December 6. On top of that, it fired off eleven C flares. It produced a corresponding R1 (minor) radio blackout affecting an area in the South Pacific Ocean over French Polynesia. The sun has eight active regions on its Earth-facing side, including a newcomer on the northwest limb (edge) now labeled AR3514.

Sun news for December 6, 2023: Small new region brings big action

EarthSky sun news author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Yesterday’s sun news posed the question: is the sun waking up? According to new active region, AR3513, it most certainly is! The region has produced 21 of today’s 25 flares including three M flares. It has also been spraying small concentrated jets of solar stuff to space. It is not a large region but sometimes big things come in small packages. The question now is: will this region continue its action and send anything big our way? The rest of the sun isn’t staying quiet either. We have seen several active filaments, including a large eruption near the north pole and one at disk center. It’s too early to tell, but the one at disk center may have sent a coronal mass ejection (CME) our way. Stay tuned for more sun news.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is at a moderate level with the production of three M flares. Each M flare produced a corresponding R1 (minor) radio blackout. The breakdown of M flares is:
– M1.0 by AR3513 at 21:10 UTC on December 5. R1 radio blackout over the South Pacific Ocean.
– M1.4 by AR3513 at 21:20 UTC on December 5. R1 radio blackout over the South Pacific Ocean.
– M2.1 by AR3513 at 5:31 UTC on December 6. R1 radio blackout over South Indian Ocean.
The largest event of the period was the M2.1 flare. The total flare production was 25 flares: 22 Cs and three M flares. The lead flare producer of the period was newcomer active region AR3513 with 21 flares, including the three M flares. The sun has seven active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 5, 2023: Action on the edges

EarthSky sun news author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Is the sun waking up? We’ve been waiting in the past couple of days for a large coronal hole – which has been spraying solar wind in our direction – to light up Earth’s magnetic field, giving us great auroras. Looks like the action expected last night didn’t pan out. Meanwhile – flare-wise – the sun itself has been relatively quiet. That might be about to change. We see a lot of activity on the sun’s edges now. In the past day, there’ve been several large eruptions on the west (receding) limb or edge. This area will soon rotate completely out of view. But, a new region (not yet labeled) on the sun’s northeast (arriving) limb has been popping off flares and jets for the last 24 hours. It produced a moderate sized, M1.6 flare, a few hours ago as of this writing (11 UTC on December 5). As it rotates fully into view, will it pump up the action, overall, on the sun? Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is now considered moderate, due to the isolated M1.6 flare from the as-yet-unlabeled region on the sun’s northeast limb. This flare, which happened just a few hours ago, at 6:39 UTC on December 5 – was the largest event of our observing period (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). It caused an R1 (minor) radio blackout that affected an area over the middle of the South Indian Ocean. The sun’s total flare production of the past day was 16 flares: 15 Cs and the one M flare. The incoming region on the northeast limb (edge) was the lead flare producer of the day with eight flares. So, the sun has seven active regions on its Earth-facing side. There is also a newcomer that has emerged, now labeled AR3512.

Sun news for December 4, 2023: Waiting on the solar wind!

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

Aurora watchers, get ready. A solar wind stream is on its way to Earth. The giant coronal hole continues to spew out lots of fast solar wind in Earth’s direction. The speed of the solar wind at Earth has started to increase, slowly, but as of this writing (11 UTC on December 4) the full stream of solar stuff is not yet blasting Earth’s magnetic field. The stream is expected to reach us by midday UTC today (December 4). It’s expected to cause a G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm. The rush of solar particles should continue into tomorrow (December 5) with slightly calmer storms at the G1 (minor) level. So – in the words of legendary Jim Morrison of The Doors – we are waiting for the sun. Musical accompaniment below.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low with 15 C flares over the observation period (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). In sun news, the large event was a C8.1 flare from AR3511 at 1:22 UTC December 4. AR3500 produced the most flares during the period at three flares. The sun has eight active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun news for December 3, 2023: Giant coronal hole spraying Earth!

EarthSky sun activity author Dr. C. Alex Young also produces @thesuntoday.

A large coronal hole spewing out lots of fast solar wind has rotated into a geoeffective position, that is, a prime position for affecting Earth. So that stream of solar stuff is due to blast Earth’s magnetic field, meaning more geomagnetic storms … meaning more auroras! The stream is expected to reach us by midday UTC tomorrow (December 4). It’s expected to cause a G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm . The rush of solar particles should continue into the next day (December 5) with slightly calmer storms at the G1 (minor) level. Aurora watchers get your warm clothes and cameras ready, and please submit your image to EarthSky’s community page.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low with 12 C flares over the observation period (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today). The large event was a C4.0 flare from AR3499 at 7:54 UTC December 3. AR3500 produced the most flares during the period at five C flares. The sun has six active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity for December 2, 2023: Fantastic auroras, over past day

What a day for auroras! As of this writing (11 UTC on December 1), there have been reports of beautiful displays across many time zones and from Earth’s northernmost and southernmost regions. The excitement lasted all day on December 1 as night fell around the globe. For most of the day, Earth’s magnetic field was engaged in G1 (minor) storming. There were also peaks of G2 (moderate) and up to G3 (strong) at around 11 UTC yesterday. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, auroras were reported as far south as northern California – and even Arizona – in the U.S. And Scandinavia reported auroras as far south as Oslo. Iceland had auroras, of course, and also Australia! Thank you all for the beautiful photos you shared at our community page. Keep ’em coming! Earth’s geomagnetic field is back to quiet this morning. It’s expected to continue at quiet-to-unsettled levels during the rest of the day through tomorrow as the effects of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on Earth’s magnetic field begin to wane. But more is coming. See Current Geomagnetic Activity below.
Last 24 hours: Turning our heads sunward, activity on our star continues at moderate levels. Sunspot group AR3500 once blasted out an M1.0 flare (at 21:20 UTC on December 1). It caused an R1 (minor) radio blackout on Earth, affecting an area over the South Pacific Ocean, east of French Polynesia. Strong activity has been observed over the past day on the sun’s northwest limb (edge), as long-lasting prominences flickered around the edges of our star. The northeast also showed activity with prominences and jets. In terms of flaring – compared to yesterday’s 14 C flares – we saw a small increase. In the past day, the sun produced 18 Cs, plus the abovementioned M, for a total of 19 flares. Sunspot group AR3500 continues as lead flare producer of the day (and the week). It blasted out 10 flares, the M included, out of the 19 of the past day. It’s also still the biggest sunspot region in extension on the Earth-facing sun. This region is fast moving to the sun’s southwest limb, carried by the sun’s rotation. It’ll be out of sight in the next couple of days. The sun today bears eight total active regions on its Earth-facing side.

Sun activity for December 1, 2023: G3 storm is here! Auroras started

The excitement has begun, and there could be a lot more to follow! By monitoring the solar wind, we’ve been tracking the four coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that have been crossing the distance to Earth, and they’ve just arrived. The first first arrived late yesterday, causing a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm. The second, a large combination of the three most recent CMEs, arrived just a few hours ago at the time of writing (11 UTC on December 1). A G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm followed, soon jumping up to a G3 (strong) storm. Auroral imagery has already started flowing in online, largely thanks to graduate student and aurora hunter extraordinaire, Vincent Ledvina. Alaska and western Canada are enjoying the beginnings right now, but if the storm lasts until tonight, those in the northern US could have a show too. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: While we’re seeing exciting activity on Earth, sun activity is moderate after the production of one M flare between 11 UTC yesterday and 11 UTC today. The M1.1 was fired by sunspot group AR3502 at 4:39 UTC on December 1. The eruption caused an R1 (minor) radio blackout on Earth, affecting an area over the west coast of Australia. Besides the M, the sun produced 14 C flares during the past day. The lead flare producer of the day (and the week) is sunspot group AR3500, which threw out seven C flares. While showing some decay, this active region has kept its beta-gamma magnetic complexity, so the possibility of large M flares remains. It is still the largest and most complex of the ten active regions currently on the Earth-facing side of our star.

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