Sunspot region 3663, X1 solar flare

Saturday, 4 May 2024 07:24 UTC

Sunspot region 3663, X1 solar flare

Sunspot region 3663 has developed into a complex sunspot region over the past few days with a Beta-Gamma-Delta magnetic layout. This complex magnetic layout already produced countless of M-class solar flares and one X1.6 solar flare which is going to be the focus of this article.

The X1.6 solar flare peaked yesterday at 2:22 UTC and was rather impulsive. The solar flare nonetheless launched a coronal mass ejection into space. While not the most spectacular coronal mass ejection ever observed by mankind, part of the plasma cloud is expected to arrive as a glancing blow late tomorrow, 5 May. The bulk of the coronal mass ejection is heading well north of our planet but a glancing blow should not be ruled out. Storm conditions up the minor G1 geomagnetic storm level will be possible late on 5 May and Monday, 6 May.

M9.1 solar flare

Another significant solar flare took place not too long ago. An M9.1 solar flare peaked today at 6:19 UTC. However, it is still too early to tell if the eruption launched a coronal mass ejection and if there is a chance for it to arrive at our planet.

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! Never want to miss out on a space weather event or one of our news articles again? Subscribe to our mailing list, follow us on Twitter and Facebook and download the SpaceWeatherLive app for Android and iOS!

Latest news

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!

SpaceWeatherLive Pro
Support SpaceWeatherLive with our merchandise
Check out our merchandise

Latest alerts

Get instant alerts!

Space weather facts

Last X-flare2024/12/08X2.2
Last M-flare2024/12/23M1.0
Last geomagnetic storm2024/12/17Kp5+ (G1)
Spotless days
Last spotless day2022/06/08
Monthly mean Sunspot Number
November 2024152.5 -13.9
December 2024106.6 -45.9
Last 30 days116.1 -41.8

This day in history*

Solar flares
12015M6.75
21998M3.34
32013M2.36
42013M1.97
52001M1.69
DstG
12002-67
22000-62G2
31989-60
42014-57
51982-53G1
*since 1994

Social networks