X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE (PERHAPS THE FIRST OF MANY): We were expecting an X-flare today, but this one surprised us anyway. At 0249 UTC, a previously overlooked sunspot exploded. The X1.9 category flash is shown here in an extreme ultraviolet image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
The surprise? The flare did not come from giant sunspot group 4294-96 now emerging in the sun's southern hemisphere. The actual source, an unnumbered northern sunspot, appeared to be harmless until it exploded.
The flare ionized Earth's upper atmosphere and caused a shortwave radio blackout directly above Australia. The explosion also hurled a bright CME into space. NASA models suggest it will miss Earth.
With multiple sunspots posing a threat, more X-flares are likely this week. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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GIANT SUNSPOT ALERT: Sunspot complex 4294-96 is so big, it won't fit in a single photo. "I had to combine two panels to capture the massive complex," says Amrit Seecharan, who sends this mosaic from Chaguanas, Trinidad:
This is one of the biggest sunspot groups of the past 10 years. From end to end, it measures ~180,000 km, and at least five of the dark cores are individually larger than Earth. These dimensions make it an easy target for safely-filtered backyard telescopes. If you don't have a solar filter, try this simple projection technique. Either way, it is spectacular.
NASA's Mars rover saw it first. Last week, Perserverance photographed the giant sunspot through a cloud of dust in Jezero Crater. At the time, it was days away from turning toward Earth--and now it is here.
The sunspot group has an unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Any such explosions today will be geoeffective. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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