May 2, 2022
[Alex on EARTHSKY.ORG] A Grand Solar Minimum happens when the peaks of several solar cycles in a row show less than average intensity. Are we in one? (Image: NOAA)
March 14, 2022
[Alex on EARTHSKY.ORG] Lots of fun with the Sun lately. A coronal mass ejection slammed into Earth and gave weekend aurora. Then the Sun fired off a moderate solar flare.
October 23, 2014
As of October 23, 2014, AR12192 is now the Biggest sunspot in 2 solar cycles. Just yesterday it reached the rank of largest sunspot in cycle 24. The sunspot measures a whopping 2700 microhemispheres (MH or millionths of a visible […]
October 22, 2014
14:28 UT – Flare peaked in GOES X-rays at X1.6 14:17 UT – The flare is still in progress but at the X1.4 level. NOAA/SWPC issued a R3 (out of 5) radio blackout (Wide area blackout of HF (high […]
October 22, 2014
Since rotating into view, the sunspot group AR12192 has continued to grow in size and complexity, becoming the largest sunspot of the current solar cycle, cycle 24 (SC24.) The region has produced numerous C and M-class flares including an X1 flare. As […]
October 19, 2014
Sunspot group, AR12192, released a strong burst of magnetic energy in the form of an X1.1 flare and a surge of solar plasma. The solar flare peaked in the GOES X-ray monitor at 5:01 UT, 10/19/2014. There was no significant […]
October 18, 2014
The active region on the southeast limb has now been designated as AR12192. This region has already produced several M and many C-class flares. Philippe Tosi of Nîmes, France, took this photograph of AR12192 on Oct. 18, 2014. The animated […]
September 10, 2014
AR12158 produced an X1.6 flare along with a coronal mass ejection. The flare peaked in X-rays at 17:45 UT. 18:20 UT (9/11/2014) – This movie is a difference movie created by Dr. Nariaki Nitta (@halocme) from the Lockheed Martin Solar and […]
August 4, 2014
High above the solar surface in the hot million+ C solar corona sits a giant filament of cooler (~50,000 C), denser material, both supported and restrained by solar magnetic fields. If this filament should become unstable as they sometimes do […]
July 8, 2014
01:22 UT – AR12113 produced an M1.2 flare that peaked in GOES X-ray at 00:26 UT Type II radio emission was detected at 00:29 UT. This emission is associated with a solar eruption and typically indicate a coronal mass ejection […]
July 8, 2014
03:11 UT – Space Weather researchers at NASA/GSFC have determined the CME may affect Mars and Spitzer as well as possibly glance Earth. The CME has an estimated speed of 725 km/s. Below is a computer model showing the CMEs […]
June 30, 2014
The active sun is rotating into view, that could mean there is solar fun to come. For the past 2 weeks that sun has been a bit quiet but that is only because the regions of current solar activity were […]
June 17, 2014
A giant filament on the eastern edge of the sun really puts the size of our star, Earth and the planets into perspective. This structure of solar plasma, a billion plus tons of 80,000 degree Fahrenheit material, sits high above […]
June 10, 2014
Just after the X2.2 AR12087 let out an X1.5 flare peaking at 12:52 UT. Here is a snapshot of the event using the SDO/AIA 131 angstrom channel. This shows plasmas with temperatures up to about 10 million Kelvin. http://youtu.be/cV5ccg3n_J0 The […]
June 10, 2014
12:05 UT – X flare!! An X2.2 solar flare from a new region (AR12087) on the southeast limb is underway. The flare peaked in x-rays around 11:42 UT. Here is a snapshot from the SDO/AIA 94 angstrom channel with the […]
June 6, 2014
The slow CME produced by the giant filament eruption from June 4 could give Earth a glancing blow. The impact should be very weak but there could be a minor geomagnetic enhancement on June 7. High latitude aurora watchers may […]
June 5, 2014
A huge filament on the southeast of the sun erupted towards the end of June 4. The filament was somewhere between a whopping 500,000 – 1 million km in length. This eruption produced a fairly slow coronal mass ejection that […]
February 28, 2014
It’s that time of year. SDO spring eclipse season started February 27, 2014. During the 3 week season, Earth will pass between SDO and the Sun around 07:30 UT each day. Initially the eclipses are a few minutes long. Their […]
February 12, 2014
A whole lot of spots going on! We no longer have the rumbling region AR11967 but the solar disk is covered with smaller regions and AR11974 is sitting at disk center popping of lots of small and medium-sized flares. It […]
February 5, 2014
The level of solar activity is moderate. NOAA region 11967 continues to be the largest and most complex active region on disk. This region would engulf Jupiter and several Earths all at once. This region has maintained spot area and decreased marginally in […]
February 1, 2014
There are two main active regions (ARs 11967/11968) on the sun and both are giving a moderate show. AR11967 continues to produce C- and M-level events, including an M3.0 flare at 07:14 UT Feb. 1, 2014. The region continues to show signs […]
January 29, 2014
UPDATES 16:17 UT (11:17 UT) – The transit ends with a bang! – an M6.6 flare peaked at 16:11 from AR11967. These images are from just before the flare peak at around 16:00 UT (11:00 EST) again in all 9 SDO/AIA wavelengths. […]
January 29, 2014
AR11967 continues to stay lively. In less than 24 hours on Jan. 28, it produced 7 M-class solar flares. The largest flare was an M4.9 at 19:00 UT. Here is a video of composite 304, 171 and 193 angstrom SDO/AIA […]
January 28, 2014
Sunspot group or active region AR11944 that gave us such a show at the beginning of the year is back. After taking its trip around the sun it has rotated onto the Earth facing solar disk and NOAA has labeled it […]
January 27, 2014
22:30 UT – January 27, 2014 – At 22:10 UT a solar flare erupted from the new region coming into view – peaking at an M4.9 rating. NOAA issued an R1 (out of 5) radio blackout meaning possible HF […]
January 7, 2014
UPDATE – 17:59 UT – January 10, 2014 – Though there is still a chance for some geomagnetic effects from the CME it turned out to not be much of an event and we will most likely not see any increased […]
November 19, 2013
11 UT (11/19/2013) – Sunspot group AR11893 erupted producing a X1 solar flare peaking at 10:26 UT, Nov. 19, 2013. A 10 cm radio burst associated with the solar flare was observed at 10:20 UT. This radio noise is generally […]
November 15, 2013
When sunspots rotate onto the solar disk facing Earth they are identified by their structure in white or visible light. Sunspots are regions of concentrated magnetic field. They are like complicated clusters of bar magnets on their sides. Some are […]
October 30, 2013
The sun has been really active lately. SDO gives us an amazing view of this activity in many different wavelengths of light. This also shows us the sun’s atmosphere in many temperatures ranging from ~4500 Kelvin or 7600 degrees Fahrenheit […]
October 25, 2013
The newest active region on the sun has given us an X-flare and a CME! 15:10 UT (10/25/2013) X again! AR11882 kicked it up again with an X2.1 peaking at 15:03 UT. A multi-million degree snapshot with SDO/AIA 94 angstrom. […]
May 29, 2013
Aptly enough, we call these coronal holes. These dark patches in the sun million plus degree corona are areas where the solar atmosphere rapidly streams away from the sun. This stream of particles from the solar atmosphere is called the […]
May 22, 2013
21:21 UT (5/23/2013) – Proton levels the eruption are still at the S2 NOAA alert level, down from S3. The particles are very apparent in SOHO/LASCO C2, showing up as “snow” on the images. 1:17 UT (5/23/2013) – Currently, a S2 […]
May 17, 2013
16:16 UT – NASA SWRC simulations indicate that the leading edge of the CME will reach Spitzer at 2:56 UT 5/19/2013 and Earth at 11:59 UT 5/19/2013 (+- 7 hrs). Roughly estimated expected maximum Kp index is 5-6 (minor to moderate). […]
May 17, 2013
Wiggly Jiggly Loops by 4 flares from an evolving sunspot AR11748 showed us some exciting yet basically benign activity. A little image processing helps us really see certain aspects of the activity. Keep an eye out for wiggling loops set […]
May 14, 2013
The active region that could, has again given us an X flare! That makes 4! 12:15 UT – The NASA GSFC Space Weather Research Center has estimated that the CME may give a glancing blow to Epoxi (~5/18/2013 06:00 UT) and […]
May 13, 2013
The unnamed region on the east limb has produced a 3rd X-class flare! (Updated) 11:44 UT – The NASA GSFC Space Weather Research Center has estimated that the CME will merge with CMEs associated with the 2 X-flares (X1.7 and X2.8) and may give a […]
May 13, 2013
Larger than the First! – (Update) In less than 24 hours, the active region about to rotate into view has produced another X-class solar flare. 19:15 UT – The NASA GSFC Space Weather Research Center has estimated that the CME may give […]
May 13, 2013
A new active region peaking around the edge of the sun released an X-class solar flare At 2:17 UT or 10:17 pm EDT, an active region that has not yet rotated into view produced an X1.7 solar flare on May […]
February 21, 2013
A sunspot region with potential, AR11678! Yes pun intended. This solar active region (AR for short) has emerged suddenly from under the solar photosphere (the visible “surface”) packed with magnetic potential energy and the potential for some significant flaring. It […]
January 24, 2013
Two solar filaments lifted off the sun in beautiful eruptions on January 23, 2013. Both eruptions produced coronal mass ejections or CMEs observed with the SOHO LASCO C2 coronagraph at 3:12 UT and 14:12 UT respectively. The first […]
December 20, 2012
It’s official! The sun cannot bring the end of the world. We are quickly approaching the supposed doomsday, December 21, 2012. As we and many have already said it is “Not Gonna Happen”. Many who have been promoting the doomsday […]
December 18, 2012
What is so special about December 21, 2012? Let’s see. It is the 2012 winter equinox for the northern hemisphere. It is 10 days before the end of the calendar year 2012. It is a Friday. But what it is […]
November 10, 2012
A C-type CME was detected by STEREO-A COR2 at 5:39 UT on 11/10/2012. The estimated speed is ~900 km/s. Based on preliminary heliospheric modeling carried out at NASA GSFC Space Weather Research Center, it is estimated that the CME may […]
November 9, 2012
A CME is coming our way! A slow (only ~570 km/s Type-C), faint CME was detected by LASCO and STEREO around 15:24 UT 11/09/2012 and it is heading in the direction of Earth. Computer models indicate that the leading edge […]
November 8, 2012
Two CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections) occurred in the early hours of November 8, 2012 (UT), the later one a more significant, O-type CME. The 2 CMEs are denoted with red arrows in this snapshot from the NASA Space Weather Research Center (SWRC) […]
November 7, 2012
An M1.7 flare peaked at 02:23 UT, November 8, 2012. This is not really a big flare but everybody’s attention picks up when the activity level reached M-class (mine included). I don’t yet know where the event came […]
October 10, 2012
Two new active regions could bring solar activity, one numbered (AR11589) and one not yet on the solar disk. Based on recent activity M class flares are possible from both. The region just over the limb produced an M1 […]
July 12, 2012
Possible Moderate to Severe Geomagnetic Storm Sunspot group, AR11520, produced an X1.4 solar flare, peaking in the NOAA GOES X-ray monitor at 16:52 UT (12:52 EDT). This flash of electromagnetic radiation temporarily altered the upper atmosphere changing its ability to […]
June 29, 2012
Over the past 24 hours, sunspot group AR11513 has increased in complexity, producing several C-class flares and 2 M-class flares, an M2.4 on June 28 at 16:07 and an M2.2 on June 29 at 9:10 UT . Both AR11513 and […]
May 6, 2012
4 M-class Flares and More A new active region (AR11476) has been rotating into view during the beginning of May 2012. It has been producing CMEs and by May 5th it started releasing small M-class flares and lots of C-class […]
April 22, 2012
On April 22, 2012, filament material uncurled as an erupting prominence around sunspot group AR11463. There was a C1.8 solar flare and the resulting eruption produced a SCORE-C CME detected by SOHO/LASCO C2 at 15:30 UT.
April 17, 2012
An eruption of plasma from just behind the solar limb observed by SDO with the 304 Angstrom camera.This shows material at temperatures around 60,000-80,000 Kelvin. This produced a CME that went out the left side (East) of the Sun starting around 2 UT. At ~1000 km/s the CME has a SCORE O (for ordinary). NASA produced a computer model predicting the CME will impact STEREO Behind on 4/17 at 7:40 UT (but not Earth).
March 14, 2012
On March 12, 2012, Sunsflare posted a video asking if anyone could identify a circular object seen in SDO coronal images. The video was also posted on Facebook with the same question posed. I answered the question on Facebook but […]
March 14, 2012
Sunspot group or active region AR11429 has almost rotated out of view but it still had enough energy to release an M7.9 X-ray solar flare, a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) and a solar energetic particle event (SEP). A […]
March 6, 2012
Sunspot group, AR11429, started off its journey across the Earth facing side of the Sun with several bangs. First it produced an M flare on March 2 at 17:29 UT (with a CME) then came another M flare (with a […]
March 5, 2012
Sunspot group AR11429! Here is a look at AR11429 from Friday to today showing the 2 M-class and 1 X-class flare blasting away from the Sun. In addition to those events and their associated CMEs there is a lot of […]
November 3, 2011
Sunspot group AR11339 (AR stands for Active Region) has just rotated onto the Earth facing disk of the Sun. Before coming completely into view the region had produced two M flares in 24 hours (an M4.3 flare […]
September 6, 2011
At 01:50 UT, sunspot group, AR11283, produced an M5 solar flare and CME (coronal mass ejection) from near the center of the solar disk. The CME appears to be moving at an angle away from a path straight towards […]
August 9, 2011
Sunspot group AR11263 is about to rotate out of view but before it goes, it produced a treat for us!! An X7 solar flare, coronal wave, coronal mass ejection (CME) and a well-connected proton event. This is the largest […]
July 25, 2011
If you have looked at data from the SOHO LASCO C3 coronagraph over the last week or so you may have noticed the very bright object in the field-of-view. You might even think it looks like a UFO. You are not alone.
July 4, 2011
A few weeks ago 3 groups of solar scientists released a joint press release at the 2011 meeting of Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the American Astronomical Society. Each group presented a unique set of solar observations, […]
June 7, 2011
A solar flare, coronal wave, filament eruption, coronal rain & a coronal mass ejection (CME)!
May 23, 2011
The STEREO (Ahead) spacecraft observed as a photogenic, solar prominence erupted and broke out into space over about 18-hour period (May 13, 2011). Prominences, notoriously unstable structures, are cooler clouds of gas that float above the Sun’s surface, tethered there […]
May 20, 2011
An extensive series of arcs, observed in profile, can be seen making a long distance connection between two active regions (Mar. 15-17, 2011). As SDO observed in extreme ultraviolet light, a series of magnetic field lines generated a well-defined pathway […]
May 10, 2011
There is an active region rotating onto the side of the Sun facing Earth. At ~20:40 UT on May 9, 2011, the area produced a C5 solar flare. But there is more to it than meets the eye!! First, […]
April 1, 2011
SDO Pick of the Week for April 1, 2011 A side-by-side comparison of the Sun from precisely two years ago (left, from SOHO) to the present (right, from Solar Dynamics Observatory) dramatically illustrates just how active the Sun has […]
February 8, 2011
NASA Spacecrafts Provide Never Before Seen 360° View of Sun On Super Bowl Sunday NASA’s STEREO spacecrafts captured something no one has ever seen before, a view of the entire sun. This first ever 360-degree picture of the sun will […]
February 4, 2011
Superbowl Sunday 2011 February 6, 2011 should be a date marked in everyone’s calendars. Not only is it Superbowl Sunday (XLV) here in the United States, but it will also be the first time in history that we will be […]
January 16, 2011
Two coronal holes that develop over several days stand out in this image and video clip of the Sun from SDO’s AIA instrument (Jan. 9-12, 2010). In the extreme UV wavelength of 193 Angstroms, one dark coronal hole intensifies just […]
January 10, 2011
We have reached the milestone of 1000 Fans on our FaceBook page! As promised, we have been preparing a small treat for all of you as a sign of appreciation for making the TheSunToday page such a great success in […]
December 30, 2010
On December 26, SOHO discovered its 2,000th comet. Drawing on help from citizen scientists around the world, SOHO has become the single greatest comet finder of all time. This is all the more impressive since SOHO was not specifically designed to find […]
December 21, 2010
SOHO’s LASCO C2 and C3 coronagraphs caught the action as three, separate coronal mass ejections (CMEs) blasted out in succession from the Sun (Dec. 12, 2010). These were each distinct and unconnected events. The first CME event (directly on the […]
December 12, 2010
A very long solar filament that had been snaking around the Sun erupted (Dec. 6, 2010) with a flourish. STEREO (Behind) caught the action in dramatic detail in extreme ultraviolet light of Helium. It had been almost a million km […]
December 6, 2010
Arcing loops above an active region put on a slinky-like show for SDO, evidence of the dynamic, magnetic struggles taking place below (Nov. 28-30, 2010). Particles spiraling along magnetic field lines trace their paths as they gracefully shift and change. […]
December 1, 2010
For seven days SDO’s HMI instrument watched as a small sunspot group morphed, merged and grew into two large sunspots (Nov. 13-19, 2010) as other sunspots begin to emerge as well. We selected an image about every 15 minutes (approximately […]
November 15, 2010
A wide and vigorous active region group (AR11121 and AR11123) produced several flares as SDO observed in 171 angstrom extreme ultraviolet light (Nov. 11-12, 2010). The tangle of magnetic field lines, made visible by particles spinning along them, connected and […]
November 8, 2010
As expected SDO experienced another lunar transit on November 6, 2010. This time the moon crossed the southern hemisphere moving from the south pole towards the northeast (left side) edge of the sun. The transit took about 30 minutes and […]
October 25, 2010
The illustration maps the magnetic field lines emanating from the Sun and their interactions superimposed on an extreme ultraviolet image from SDO (Oct. 20, 2010). As one can see, the field lines are most dense around active regions, but they […]
October 18, 2010
A giant filament on the sun produced a small eruption and flare.
October 18, 2010
The STEREO (Ahead) spacecraft caught this tumultuous solar prominence as it twisted and turned over about 18 hours, as seen in profile above the Sun?s surface, before disappearing (Oct. 8, 2010). The cloud of cooler gases, suspended by magnetic forces, […]
October 11, 2010
Around 3:30 UT on October 6, 2010 a filament erupted in the northeast part of the solar disk (upper left area). Moving at around 375 km/s (850,000 miles per hour) the CME combined with the ambient solar wind then over […]
October 7, 2010
A filament erupted in the NE area of the sun. The eruption was observed by SDO and the associated Halo CME was seen by SOHO's C2 and C3 coronagraphs. SDO is currently in eclipse season so during this event the earth moved between SDO and the sun, moving across the sun for a few minutes.
October 4, 2010
Solar sunspot group, active region (AR) 11109, is rotating out of view over the western limb of the sun. As it was moving out of the view of the earth and SDO it produced a C-class (C2.3) solar flare at […]
September 22, 2010
Our good friends and colleagues at Trinity College Dublin have created a 3D visualization of the propagation of a coronal mass ejection (CME). Using multiscale image processing and 3D visualization the team reconstructed the trajectory of an earth-directed CME observed […]
September 9, 2010
Just as sunspot group AR11105 rotated out of the Earth’s view it produced a spectacular show. A large prominence erupted along with a C3 solar flare and a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) blasted away from the sun. This great show […]
September 9, 2010
A View of the Active Sun with EUVI, COR1 and COR2 A very busy active region popped off about ten blasts of solar material over a two-day period (Aug. 31- Sept. 2, 2010). With this composited image and movie three […]
August 29, 2010
On August 24th and 25th, the STEREO Ahead spacecraft observed an enormous filament on the southeastern edge of sun expand into a huge prominence. The images were recorded with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) in the 304 Angstrom wavelength. The […]
August 8, 2010
Here is a 2-week view of the sun as observed by the AIA (Atmospheric Imaging Assembly) instrument aboard the SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) spacecraft. This video contains 4 wavelength channels 304, 171, 193 & 211. First, all four wavelengths are […]
August 4, 2010
On Feb. 16, 2006 the NASA-led THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms) mission was launched. This fleet of 5 spacecraft was tasked with understanding substorms in the magnetosphere, the power source of the aurora and consequence […]
August 3, 2010
On August 1, 2010, the sun produced a complex event, or really a set of events. At approximately 8:55 UT a large filament on the northwest of the sun erupted and at nearly the same time in sunspot active region 11902, […]
July 28, 2010
Around 13:00 UTC (8:00 EST) on July 28, 2010, a prominence on the southeast limb of the sun became unstable. The prominence erupted sending an immense amount of solar plasma and magnetic field away from the sun into space. Amateur […]
May 9, 2010
To put this in perspective, “TINY” = 10-20 Earths On May 8, 2010, the sun produced several relatively small solar flares, C and B-class solar flares on the solar flare scale (much like the earthquake Richter scale). In particular, the […]
April 22, 2010
One of the first movies from NASA’s SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) Mission this sequence of images gives us a first glimpse at the kinds of science SDO will open up to solar astronomers. On April 8, 2010, the sun produced […]