Sun

Sun news: Returning powerhouse shows its nose

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C. Alex Young

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Armando Caussade

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Raúl Cortés

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May 9, 2026

Sun news May 9: Returning powerhouse shows its nose

Today’s top story: Sun-watchers’ eyes are turning to the northeast solar horizon. The sunspot region formerly known as AR4419 – continuously carried westward by the sun’s rotation – has finished its journey on the sun’s far side and has started coming back into view. And this former powerhouse looks impressive already. Even the small portion now visible appears larger in extent than all the other sunspot regions on the sun’s visible disk now. Yesterday, this as-yet-unnumbered region fired an M flare from the far side! But, over the past day, it remained dormant, with no flares. Did it keep its complex magnetic setup, the same setup that let it fire two X flares on a single day when we last saw it cross the sun’s visible face? We don’t know yet. Soon we’ll see. Stay with us!

Past 24 hours of sun news

(11 UTC May 8 – 11 UTC May 9)

Flare activity

Over the past day, solar activity held at low levels. Only C-class and B-class flares occurred. But overall flare production increased notably. In total, the sun fired 17 flares: 16 C-class (common) and 1 B-class (weak).

Strongest flare: C2.7 from AR4432 in the northwest, peaking at 20:21 UTC on May 8.
Lead flare producer: AR4432 was not just the lead producer. It was the only producer. This single sunspot region fired all 18 flares of the period: 17 C-class and 1 B-class.

Sunspot regions

Currently, the sun shows 5 numbered active regions on its visible side. Notably, AR4432 continued to grow over the past day. It gained a gamma component and now shows a beta-gamma magnetic complexity. That upgrade boosts its potential for stronger flares. The remaining regions on the visible disk carry beta or simpler configurations.

Blasts from the sun?

Available coronagraph imagery showed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) tied to the M flare from yesterday’s update. But the CMEs weren’t directed toward Earth. No new Earth-directed CMEs appeared over the past day, either.

Past 24 hours in space weather

Solar wind

Solar wind speeds continued at moderate-high levels throughout the period. Fast solar wind from a coronal hole combined with a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) drove the elevated speeds. But effects then started to wane. Meanwhile, the total interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) dropped from strong to weak levels.

Bz and magnetic coupling

The Bz component stayed weak during the past day. It shifted between south and north. Those conditions were not ideal for auroral displays. Currently, at the time of this writing, the Bz has turned slightly northward, sitting just above the zero level. Tough luck, aurora-watchers!

Earth’s magnetic field

Over the past day, Earth’s magnetic field ranged from unsettled-to-quiet levels (Kp 1–3). Specifically, the CIR and fast solar wind kept the Kp index at level 3 for three consecutive three-hour synoptic periods. Since then, conditions have eased. Currently, the Kp index sits slightly above level 1.

What’s ahead? Sun–Earth forecast

Flare activity forecast

Forecasters expect flare activity to hold at low-to-moderate levels. Chances for M (moderate) flares hold at 45%. In addition, X-class (strong) flare chances remain at 10%.

Two regions drive these odds. AR4432, with its new beta-gamma setup, is the current top producer. And the imminent return of former AR4419 from the far side could change the picture entirely. That region was a powerhouse during its last transit. What will it bring this time around?

Geomagnetic activity forecast

May 9 (Friday): Expect quiet-to-unsettled conditions as effects of fast solar wind from a coronal hole and the co-rotating interaction region continue to wane.
May 10 (Saturday): Expect quiet-to-unsettled levels to continue as fast solar wind effects keep fading. No significant geomagnetic drivers are in play.

Join EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd and space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl of NOAA’s Spaceweather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, as they revisit the biggest solar storm in 2 decades. The May 10-11, 2024, event brought auroras to skies around the world. What did we learn from that storm? How did our technology — and especially our power grids— hold up? And are we ready for the next big solar storm? Plus … Shawn also explains how space weather forecasting could play a key role as humans head back to the moon and to Mars. Watch in the player above or on YouTube.

Sun news for May 9, 2026. This video highlights the remarkable journey of active region AR4419 across the solar disk in April 2026. Watch as this sunspot region evolved from a quiet newcomer into a most powerful flare producer. The video shifts to extreme ultraviolet imagery, capturing the moment this powerhouse fired 2 X-class flares in a single day. What will this powerhouse bring during its 2nd act? Stay tuned! Video via NASA/SDO.

The sun, seen as a large yellow sphere with dark spots, each labeled. — This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of 5 UTC on May 9, 2026. Original image, without labels, via NASA SDO. Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky. Armando Caussade posted today’s sun. Why are east and west on the sun reversed?

Sun news May 8: Bam! M flare fires from far side

Bam! The sun surprised us with an M flare from its far side! The fiery northeast horizon we’ve been watching in recent days delivered the M2.6 flare at 15:14 UTC on May 7. The eruption clearly originated from the sun’s far side, just around the corner in the northeast. So the real strength was surely larger than the registered M2.6. The resulting blob of solar stuff isn’t heading toward Earth, given its far-side location. But gorgeous prominences danced during the blast. Is this a preview of the return of powerhouse sunspot region AR4419? We’ll see. Stay with us!