Major X2.8 solar flare
Thursday, 14 December 2023 17:34 UTC
A major X2.87 (R3-strong) solar flare just peaked at 17:02 UTC. Sunspot region 3514 is the source of the eruption.
This sunspot region is starting to rotate away towards the west limb and flew under the radar a bit but it has rapidly developed into a complex Beta-Gamma-Delta magnetic layout which as we see right now harbors energy for spectacular X-class solar flares. As a matter of fact this is the strong solar flare of the current Solar Cycle thus far! The last time we had a stronger solar flare was back in 2017!
Type II and IV radio sweeps have been reported which indicates the solar flare likely produced a coronal mass ejection but it is still too early to tell how large the coronal mass ejection is and if it has an earth-directed component. Keep your eyes on this website, our app and our socials as we will keep you up to date whenever there is more news!
Thank you for reading this article! Did you have any trouble with the technical terms used in this article? Our help section is the place to be where you can find in-depth articles, a FAQ and a list with common abbreviations. Still puzzled? Just post on our forum where we will help you the best we can!
Latest news
Major far side eruption, S1 radiation storm
Coronal hole faces Earth
X2.0 solar flare
Latest forum messages
Support SpaceWeatherLive.com!
A lot of people come to SpaceWeatherLive to follow the Sun's activity or if there is aurora to be seen, but with more traffic comes higher server costs. Consider a donation if you enjoy SpaceWeatherLive so we can keep the website online!
Space weather facts
| Last X-flare | 2024/11/06 | X2.39 |
| Last M-flare | 2024/11/22 | M1.6 |
| Last geomagnetic storm | 2024/11/10 | Kp5+ (G1) |
| Spotless days | |
|---|---|
| Last spotless day | 2022/06/08 |
| Monthly mean Sunspot Number | |
|---|---|
| October 2024 | 166.4 +25 |
| November 2024 | 142.9 -23.5 |
| Last 30 days | 155.8 +4.5 |