The sunspot area that caused the beautiful aurora at the beginning of May is reactivated and continues its activities.
AR 3664, which is responsible for several X-class flares, including the strongest of the current solar cycle, rotated in mid-May to the opposite side of the Sun, out of our line of sight.
Although we couldn’t track its trajectory, it reappeared in style. After returning to the solar horizon under a new name – AR 3697 – on May 27, the sunspot erupted with another powerful X-class flare, this time an X-class 2.8.
It has since ejected four more X-class flares, for a total of five as of this writing. On May 29 it emitted flare X1.45, on May 31 it emitted flare X1.1, and on June 1 it produced two flares, X1.03 and X1.4.
Are we waiting for another “light show”?
Despite these eruptions, solar storms like those in early May are not expected to occur. There are no reports of an accompanying coronal mass ejection (CME), which causes the aurora when it collides with Earth’s magnetosphere.
This does not mean that AR 3697 has ceased to be active. Every day it emits fainter flashes. On June 2, it emitted two M-class flares, which are 10 times fainter than X-class, and 10 C-class flares, which are 10 times fainter than M-class.
While these weaker flares are unlikely to cause significant effects, the chances of more X-class flares are high, about 30 percent, according to Spaceweatherlive, Science Alert reports.
The sunspot region is now located in the center of the Sun’s disk, which means that all eruptions will be directed towards Earth. While this does not guarantee CME activity, the odds are significantly higher than average.
We’re currently nearing the top of the Sun’s 11-year cycle of activity, which means that even if AR 3697 has already given us the best views, another sunspot area may develop to bring us another spectacular light show. show in the coming months.
