X1.1 solar flare

Sunday, 17 April 2022 18:29 UTC

X1.1 solar flare

Two major sunspot regions (2993 and 2994) have now rotated onto the earth-facing solar disk. These regions were already very active on the far side and it was no secret that there was something interesting on the way. It is still hard to see how complex these regions are but considering the numerous C and M-class flares that we had already, we know there is potential. That potential came to light this morning at 03:34 UTC.

An X1.1 solar flare (R3-strong) was observed this morning and it came from sunspot region 2994. This is the third strongest solar flare of the current Solar Cycle 24 thus far. A partial halo coronal mass ejection was released into space but it is not expected to arrive at Earth. These two regions remain active with C-class activity and should be monitored for further flaring activity in the days ahead as they rotate into a more favorable earth-facing position.

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Current data suggests there is a slight possibility for aurora to appear at the following high latitude regions in the near future

Fairbanks, AK
The solar wind speed is currently moderately high (663.6 km/sec.)

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