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Sun news: Sun-stuff could give us a glancing blow tomorrow

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C. Alex Young

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Armando Caussade

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Raúl Cortés

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June 15, 2026

Sun news June 15: Sun-stuff could give us a glancing blow tomorrow

Today’s top story: The sun has taken a breather over the past 24 hours, with only minor C-class (common) flares sputtering from a handful of small, magnetically simple sunspot regions. But solar activity from a few days ago could soon bring excitement to Earth. A glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun on June 12 could brush Earth tomorrow, potentially lifting geomagnetic activity to active levels.

Past 24 hours of sun news

(11 UTC June 14 – 11 UTC June 15)

Flare activity

Over the past day, solar activity remained at low levels. In total, the sun fired 7 flares: 5 C-class (common) and 2 B-class (weak). No M-class (moderate) or X-class events occurred.

Strongest flare: C1.7 from AR4464 at 1:50 UTC on June 15.
Lead flare producer: AR4464 topped the list with 4 of the 7 events. These included the C1.7.

Sunspot regions

The Earth-facing solar disk shows 4 numbered active regions. All are magnetically simple and relatively inactive.

Blasts from the sun?

Available coronagraph imagery showed no Earth-directed coronal mass ejections during the period. But forecasters continue tracking a CME that departed the sun on June 12. It may deliver a glancing blow around June 16–17. A direct hit is not expected. But it could modestly enhance geomagnetic activity upon arrival.

Past 24 hours in space weather

Solar wind

Solar wind speeds reflected the continued but waning influence of a coronal hole high-speed stream. Speeds gradually declined to normal levels over the period. Meanwhile, the total interplanetary magnetic field remained weak.

Bz and magnetic coupling

The Bz component showed no significant southward dips. It remained weak and variable. As a result, Earth’s magnetic shield stayed firmly closed. And aurora activity stayed suppressed.

Earth’s magnetic field

Over the past day, Earth’s magnetic field stayed quiet (Kp 1–2). No geomagnetic storm conditions occurred.

What’s ahead? Sun–Earth forecast

Flare activity forecast

Forecasters expect low levels to persist through June 17. C-class flares are very likely. And a slight chance (15%) exists for isolated M-class flares. But none of the four currently visible active regions possesses the complex magnetic configurations typically needed for significant eruptions. X-class flares are not expected (1% chance).

Geomagnetic activity forecast

June 15: Expect quiet-to-unsettled conditions (Kp 1–3) as the coronal hole high-speed stream influence continues to fade. A small chance of a glancing CME arrival from the June 12 event exists. But a significant geomagnetic impact is unlikely today.
June 16: Active conditions (Kp up to 4) are likely as the anticipated glancing blow from the June 12 CME arrives. A chance of isolated G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm conditions (Kp 5) exists. But that remains a low-probability scenario given the glancing geometry. If G1 levels are reached, aurora could become visible from Calgary, Edmonton, Oslo and Stockholm. But mid-June’s limited darkness hours at these latitudes will severely restrict viewing.
June 17: Expect quiet-to-unsettled conditions initially. But a new coronal hole high-speed stream may begin influencing Earth’s environment later in the day. Solar wind may become slightly elevated. And isolated unsettled-to-active intervals (Kp 3–4) are possible by late June 17.

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 June 14, 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 June 14, 2026. Patricio wrote: “Two isolated major sunspots in the solar face. All indexes of activity in low levels. Eastern hemisphere mostly empty of spots.” Thank you, Patricio!

More sun images from our community

The sun, seen as four spheres in different bright colors. — View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mario Rana in Hampton, Virginia, captured these filtered images on June 14, 2026. Mario wrote: “The sun in hydrogen-alpha, helium D3 and calcium-H.” Thank you, Mario!

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

Bottom line: Sun news for June 15, 2026: The sun is taking a breather, but a glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection could disturb Earth’s magnetic field tomorrow.

Submit your photos here.

View community photos here.

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June 15, 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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About the Author:

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.