Sun

Sun activity: Week of April 26, 2022

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C. Alex Young

and

Raúl Cortés

and

Michael Maimone

and

April 25, 2022

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Quarter red globe (the sun) with bright patches (sunspots) and orange-yellow explosions. — The beautiful eruption of material just after the peak of the April 30, 2022 X1.1 solar flare by SDO 304 angstroms. Sun activity image via SDO.

May 1 update: Sun activity back to low

After yesterday’s X-flare and M-flares, sun activity has settled down. The sun’s rotation has carried AR2994 – the region that produced all the activity – around to the back side of the sun, the side we don’t see from Earth. Slightly elevated geomagnetic activity is expected from high-speed solar wind from May 1 to May 2. The grazing impact from an April 29 CME could keep the geomagnetic field unsettled into May 3.

Spectacular eruption with the X1 flare! ???? pic.twitter.com/TlG1K57Omi

— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) May 1, 2022

Six flares above the M1 class occurred during the past 2 days, and most of them were associated with a CME. The first one, M1.1 at 29 Apr 07:30, was associated with the fastest CME (~1700 km/s), even producing a proton event. Others, including the X1.1, were slower (<800 km/s). pic.twitter.com/ropXmkuIdZ

— Halo CME (@halocme) May 1, 2022

On today's episode of active regions waiting to become active on/beyond the west limb:

Farewell AR2994! Will you live to see a third rotation? ? pic.twitter.com/Njv177GEfI

— ? Sara Housseal ? (@SNHWx) April 30, 2022

The sun, seen as a large yellow sphere with small dark spots. — Today’s sun with the most active regions labeled (2 UTC on May 2, 2022). View original image, without labels, via NASA SDO. Today’s sun is posted by Armando Caussade.

April 30 update: X-flare!

Departing sunspot region AR2994 emitted an X-flare – the biggest sort of flare – at 13:47 UTC on Saturday, April 30, 2022. Looking at the X-ray emission was like seeing a flare crescendo, after a rise in intensity. This region first emitted an M1.4-flare, then an M4.8, then – bam! – an X1.1.

Any CMEs will most likely not be Earth-directed.

Over the past 24 hours, then, AR2994 and AR2993 have produced 5 M-flares and an X-flare.

Meanwhile, an M1.2 flare from spotless region AR2996 also has an associated fast CME. NASA’s models show at least a glancing blow with Earth, perhaps as soon as May 1, with possible geomagnetic activity up to G2. Look out for auroras around May 1!

There was minor geomagnetic activity overnight on April 29-30, 2022. High-speed solar wind produced a G1 geomagnetic storm and possible auroras at high latitudes.

Kaboom! X marks the spot! AR2994 is not leaving without a show. ????? pic.twitter.com/1fFFWEsUTu

— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) April 30, 2022

April 29 update: M1.22-flare

After days of activity no higher than C-class flares, the sun surprised us with a beautiful M1.22 flare from a spotless region, AR2996 in the sun’s northwest quarter, on April 29, 2022.

The southeast quarter looks busy with new sunspot regions, AR3000 and AR3001. A new region, possibly the former AR2992, is just around the corner and may soon bear a new label of AR3002 or greater.

Good morning M-flare! AR2996 in the NW quarter of the sun and which is now almost without a spot still has some juice left. At 7:50 UT it gave off the flare along with a beautiful injection of material. Have to wait for more data to see if any of the CME makes it to us.??? pic.twitter.com/OcdarE9EQV

— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) April 29, 2022

April 28 update: Filament eruptions still dominate

Filament eruptions still dominate the activity on the sun on April 27-28, 2022, with flares only in the C-class range. Below you will find a video tweet showing the sun for the last seven days in two SDO wavelengths of light.. These wavelengths, 304 and 171 angstroms, help to highlight all the filament eruptions.

On Earth, there was a surprise for forecasters with an unexpected G1 geomagnetic storm. It was probably due either to high-speed solar wind, a sneaky CME, or both.

We do expect more activity on April 28, into April 29. This geomagnetic activity should be caused by high-speed solar wind from the coronal hole (CH HSS or coronal hole high-speed stream) we saw on April 26.

Filament Fun! The last 7 days have not seen the flare activity the week before but boy the filaments have been flying off the sun. A look at the last 7 days in 304/171 SDO. Keep your eyes on the edges of the sun???? pic.twitter.com/abIv9Sp6Is

— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) April 28, 2022

April 27 update: Minor geomagnetic storm arrived

Despite low activity on the sun, we had a minor geomagnetic storm on April 27. Last week’s Kp index went as low as Kp1 and even Kp0. On the 27th we reached Kp5. All this indicates … auroras. Unfortunately, this happened during the day for both sides of the planet. Stay tuned.

Sun activity: Red square with red disk and white circle (the sun). — A CME produced by a solar filament eruption on the sun’s northeast limb. Observed by SOHO/LASCO C2 on April 27, 2022.

Huge prominence eruption off the northeast limb. pic.twitter.com/9DN8uCqAGd

— Edward.Vijayakumar (@edwanx) April 27, 2022

April 26: Sun activity moderate, with nice filament eruption

Excitement is brewing on the sun’s southeast limb with a beautiful filament eruption on April 25, 2022. The eruption produced a non-Earth-directed CME because of its location at the southeast limb.

Meanwhile, a well-defined coronal hole is sitting near the sun’s disk center. It may provide some fast solar wind as it rotates farther west.

AR2993 and AR2994 are still the regions to watch.

Filament eruption and the associated CME from the southeastern limb of the Sun. pic.twitter.com/ndf8xTJa0e

— Edward.Vijayakumar (@edwanx) April 26, 2022

Coronal hole region. — A coronal hole is growing on the center to southeast region of the solar disk, April 26, 2022. Via SDO.

Video of sun activity: April 13 to 21

Last week was exciting. From April 13 to April 21 with 2 X-class flares (X2.2 the largest so far for cycle 25), 16 M-flares (one almost an X at M9.6) and 12+ non-Earth-directed CMEs.

Busy and exciting week! April 13 to April 20, 2022 – 2 X-class flares (X2.2 largest so far for cycle 25), 14 M-flares (1 almost X – M9.6) ,and 12+ non-Earth-directed CMEs. Two regions on the sun were the major players. SDO 304/171/131/193 ???? What’s next? ?? pic.twitter.com/a6MjUfINfI

— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) April 22, 2022

To our readers and community

We invite you all to send us your beautiful recent photos of sunspots and auroras. We love receiving your photos! To those of you who’ve already posted a photo to our community, thank you.

Submit your image here

View community photos here

Recent sun activity photos from the EarthSky community

Black spots in a yellow sphere and black background. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Roberto Ortu in Cabras, Sardinia, Italy, captured this view of the sun on April 26, 2022, and wrote: “This is my astrophoto of the sunspots in the active regions AR2994 and AR2995.” Thank you, Roberto!

Yellow sphere with black dots labeled. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, captured this view of the sun on April 26, 2022, and said: “This white light image of our sun shows 6 different sunspot groups. Sunspot group AR2993-2994, which was previously very active, is now decaying and rotating out of view. A new sunspot (circled area) is emerging from the SE limb of the sun.” Thank you, David!

Yellow sun with an orange tone in the middle. The bottom of the sphere is hidden behind a hill. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Teresa Molinaro at Bagheria, Sicilia, Italy, captured this view of the sun and some sunspots on April 24, 2022. Thank you, Teresa!

White circular projection with small dark spots. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Divyadarshan Purohit at Gurudev Observatory in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, captured this view of the sun via projection on April 24, 2022. Thank you, Divyadarshan!

Bottom line: Your latest on sun activity: On the morning of April 30, 2022, the sun produced an X-flare from AR2994, a sunspot region that is rotating away from Earth.

Click here for last week’s sun activity

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Posted

April 25, 2022

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Sun

C. Alex Young

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About the Author:

C. Alex Young is a solar astrophysicist studying the Sun and space weather. Alex is passionate about sharing science with diverse audiences. This led him to start The Sun Today with his designer wife, Linda. First through Facebook and Twitter then adding an extensive website thesuntoday.org, the two work together to engage the public about the Sun and its role in our solar system. Alex led national engagement efforts for the 2017 total solar eclipse. He is the Associate Director for Science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Raúl Cortés

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About the Author:

Raúl Cortés studied engineering at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Monterrey, Mexico, obtained a scholarship to continue his studies in Japan and after returning to Monterrey he got credits on MBA from the Graduate School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Faculty. He became a teacher at the University UANL teaching Math and Physics and dedicated the rest of his professional career to serve in engineering areas for USA, Japan and Germany based corporations. His passion for the skies go back to when he was a child, always intrigued about the stars and constellations and reading and researching about the matter. From 2010 on, he dedicated his attention to photographing the stars, constellations, the moon and the sun. Raúl's work on his photography has been published and posted on the ESC as well as in other platforms and has gained attention to be published by local Monterrey newspapers.

Michael Maimone

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Michael Maimone is an editorial assistant for EarthSky and has always had a strong passion for communicating scientific complexity in a way just about anyone can understand. Michael graduated from Penn State University in 2019 with dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Planetary Science & Astronomy and Meteorology & Atmospheric Science. He has experience in radio astronomy research with the Green Bank Observatory and even as a mission operations specialist for NASA’s Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance. He is currently working towards a master’s degree in space operations from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.