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Sun news: AR4479 exits the stage with a bang

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C. Alex Young

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Armando Caussade

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Raúl Cortés

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July 6, 2026

Sun news July 6: AR4479 exits the stage with a bang

(11 UTC July 5 – 11 UTC July 6)

Today’s top story: The sun fired off a barrage of flares over the past 24 hours. Forecasters logged 6 M-class (moderate) flares and 15 C-class (common) flares during the period, nearly all of which came from the prolific sunspot AR4479. The most powerful of these was an M5.3 from AR4479 at 17:51 UTC yesterday, which caused an R2 (moderate) radio blackout across the Americas. It was an impressive farewell from AR4479, with this prolific flare factory now having rotated almost fully out of view over the western horizon.

Flare activity: Solar activity remained high. Observers recorded 21 flares: 6 M-class and 15 C-class events.

Strongest flare: An M5.3 from AR4479 peaking at 17:51 UTC on July 5. It triggered an R2 (moderate) radio blackout. The blackout temporarily degraded high-frequency radio communications across the sunlit Americas and eastern Pacific. This affected aviation and maritime operations.
Other M-class flares: M1.4 at 16:41 UTC on July 5 from AR4479; M1.4 at 16:21 UTC on July 5 from AR4479; M1.4 at 18:56 UTC on July 5 from AR4479; M1.0 at 21:14 UTC on July 5 from AR4479. In addition, AR4478 fired an M1.4 at 11:00 UTC on July 5, that region’s sole notable contribution. All M-class events produced R1 (minor) radio blackouts.
Lead flare producer: AR4479 produced the overwhelming majority of activity. It fired at least 18 of the 21 flares, including all six M-class events and most of the stronger C-class flares (C9.6, C9.5, C8.1, C7.3, C6.1, C5.9, C5.0 and others).

Sunspot regions: The Earth-facing solar disk displayed seven numbered active regions. Forecasters cataloged 2 new regions during the period.

AR4479 (beta-gamma-delta) dominated flare production and now sits right on the western limb. The viewing angle now makes detailed magnetic analysis difficult. Even so, sustained high flare output strongly suggests at least one delta configuration persists. This region produced the vast majority of the period’s activity. We expect it to rotate out of view by July 7.
AR4478 (beta-gamma) ranked as the second-most complex region on the disk. However, it stayed mostly quiet this period aside from a lone M1.4 flare. The trailing portion continued to decay.

The remaining regions hold either of alpha or beta complexity.

Blasts from the sun? Observers spotted several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in LASCO coronagraph imagery during the period. However, the vast majority lacked an Earth-directed component.

Solar wind: Solar wind conditions gradually eased to near normal as the lingering influence of the June 30 CME faded.

Bz and magnetic coupling: Meanwhile, the interplanetary magnetic field total strength (Bt) remained relatively weak, keeping aurora activity subdued.

Earth’s magnetic field: The geomagnetic field held at a steady unsettled-to-active level throughout the period. This corresponds to Kp values of 2–3. After a round of geomagnetic storms and auroras over the weekend, no geomagnetic storm thresholds were reached over the past day.

What’s ahead? Sun–Earth forecast

Flare activity forecast: We expect moderate activity today, with a slight chance (20%) of X-class (strong) flares. AR4479 and AR4478 remain the primary sources while they stay visible near the western limb. As these regions rotate beyond the limb by July 7 and 8, flare probabilities will decrease.

However, the newly emerging region on the eastern limb could sustain at least low-to-moderate flare activity. AR4482 could contribute as well. In addition, there is a slight chance for S1 (minor) solar radiation storms on July 6 and 7. That’s because the continued flaring on the western horizon could lead to charged particles being magnetically channeled to Earth.

Geomagnetic activity forecast:

July 6: Expect unsettled to active conditions (Kp 2–4). Residual effects from the July 1 and 2 CME activity will drive the disturbance, along with possible influence from a coronal hole. A slight chance exists for isolated G1 (minor) storm intervals if a glancing CME component arrives. Auroras will likely stay confined to high latitudes: northern Scandinavia, Iceland and northern Canada.
July 7: Expect mostly quiet to unsettled conditions (Kp 1–3). However, the July 3 CME shock front may arrive around 10:00 UTC, with the leading edge following around 20:00 UTC. Model runs suggest Kp 2–4. In other words, active intervals are possible but full storm conditions are unlikely. If the Bz turns strongly southward upon arrival, isolated G1 (minor) storm periods cannot be ruled out.
July 8: Anticipate quiet to unsettled levels (Kp 1–3) as CME influences wane. Flare activity should also decrease as the most active western-limb regions complete their departure.
July 9: A coronal hole high-speed stream should start affecting Earth. Additionally, the fast CME from July 5 has a modeled arrival around 6 UTC. Combined, these could produce G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm conditions. Auroras may then appear over Seattle, Edinburgh and the northern tier of the United States and Canada.

The sun, seen as a large white sphere with dark spots, each labeled. — This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of 2 UTC on July 6, 2026, as seen from Learmonth Solar Observatory in Australia. Original image, without labels, via NSO/ GONG. Data acquired by GONG instruments operated by NISP/ NSO/ AURA/ NSF with contribution from NOAA, and labeling by EarthSky. Armando Caussade posted today’s sun. Why are east and west on the sun reversed?

The sun in recent days

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 July 5, 2026. Image via NASA/ SDO.

Earlier sun images

Sun images from our community

The sun, seen as a large white sphere with small dark spots. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Patricio León in Santiago, Chile, captured this filtered image on July 5, 2026. Patricio wrote: “Big spots AR4478 and AR4479 are about to exit the solar face, but still very prolific in flare production. AR4482 will stay as a solitary dweller for now.” Thank you, Patricio!

More sun images from our community

The sun, seen as six spheres in different bright colors. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mario Rana in Hampton, Virginia, captured these filtered images on July 5, 2026. Mario wrote: “The sun in hydrogen-alpha, hydrogen-epsilon, helium D3, iron, and calcium-H. Beautiful prominence on the northeast limb!” Thank you, Mario!

We sometimes feature sun images obtained using hydrogen-alpha filters. Read why.

Bottom line: Sun news for July 6, 2026: An M5.3 (moderate) flare capped a busy day as prolific sunspot region AR4479 starts to depart over the western horizon.

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View community photos here.

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July 6, 2026

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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.

Armando Caussade

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Armando is known primarily as an astronomy educator, after 30+ years of extensive public outreach and 10 years teaching in colleges. As one of only a handful of science communicators in Puerto Rico during Comet Halley's last visit, he assumed a pioneering role starting in 1985 when science was just beginning to enter the collective mindset. Over the years, his work as a teacher, speaker and writer, inspired people to pursue interests in science and brought enduring change to Puerto Rican culture. After being accepted into the 2014–2015 Antarctic season of PolarTREC, Armando was assigned to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, where in 2015 he successfully conducted 10 days of work at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. His affiliations include Ana G. Méndez University, Cupey campus (2014 to 2021), the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla campus (2015 to 2017), NASA JPL's Solar System Ambassadors (2004 to 2006), and NASA Space Grant (2017 to 2019) where he served as an affiliate representative.

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.