X Marks the New Spot! (Updated)

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.

8:48 UT (10/25/2013)

The eruption that produced the X-flare also had an associated coronal mass ejection (CME). The plasma cloud is show hear by the LASCO/C2 coronagraph aboard the SOHO spacecraft. The CME is heading off in the Eastward (right) direction, not directly towards Earth.

4:01 UT (10/25/2013)

Active region AR11882 rotated into view in the last day or so. It first made us really aware of its presence with a medium-sized, M2.9 flare peaking at 3:02 UT, 10/25/2013. Only 5 hours later it has given us the first X-flare since the quad X-flares of May 2013. AR11882 let out an X1.7 that peaked in GOES X-ray at 8:01 UT.

Here is a look at the NOAA GOES X-ray monitor. The first plot shows the GOES 5 minute data over 3 days. The second plot shows the GOES 1 minute data over the last 6 hours. The X1.7 flare peaks just after 8 UT and there is also a double humped M1 flare around 10 UT.

The SDO spacecraft also captured the event. This 4 panel image shows the flare near its peak in the 304, 171, 131 and 193 angstrom wavelengths.