Another X-flare! Potent sunspot region 4087!

Wednesday, 14 May 2025 19:36 UTC

Another X-flare! Potent sunspot region 4087!

Wow! We go from a period with hardly any solar activity worth mentioning to two X-class solar flares in two days!

Yesterday it was departing sunspot region 4086 which gave us an explosive X1.1 solar flare as farewell present, today we have incoming sunspot region 4087 with a welcome present! This sunspot region produced an X2.7 solar flare (R3-strong) this morning at 08:19 UTC along with a couple of M-class events. The X2.7 solar flare was eruptive but the coronal mass ejection wasn't very impressive and not aimed at Earth. While still close to the limb, it should rotate in a favourable earth-facing position in the days ahead.

She doesn't look all that impressive but sunspot region 4087 has a Beta-Gamma-Delta magnetic layout. It has one very tightly packed delta structure where sunspots of opposite polarity meet and cause the solar fireworks we all enjoy so much. Keep an eye on this region as it rotates in a more favourable earth-facing position in the days ahead.

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