After a whole day and a half with no significant solar activity, newly-designated AR3685 — currently the largest active sunspot region on the visible disk as it rounds the east limb — just produced an M7.2 X-ray flare (R2 – Moderate radio blackout). This is on top of the X2.9 flare it produced while it was still on the far side of the limb, suggesting that its transit across the disk will be a busy one. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
Well, that didn't take long: a new active sunspot region just around the east limb (possibly the future AR3683) just produced an X2.9 flare (R3 – Strong radio blackout), with only a 6-hour gap since the last X-class flare (X3.4) from former AR3664, which has rotated beyond the west limb. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
This is likely the return of former AR3654, which produced an M9.5 flare near the end of its last transit across the solar disk; it has clearly continued developing during its rotation around the backside. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
Type II and IV radio sweeps have already been picked up by SWPC, strongly implying that a CME was produced; however, given the region's location around the east limb, it's unlikely to be Earth-directed. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
Looking back through the SWPC archives, the region responsible for this flare might actually be slightly further south than AR3654 was, so it might instead be either old AR3655 or an entirely new active region altogether. #solarflare#spaceweather#spacewx
Looking through my DSLR photos from last night, it's clear I was more interested in watching the aurora than photographing it 😬
And I thought about binning this shot for being massively out-of-focus 🙄
But y'know, it has a certain colourful charm, not least because Ursa Major is writ large in the corner, & maybe it's fine to just go with the flow 🤷♂️
Getting some pretty amazing #aurora photos with a 4 second exposure at ISO 320 from my backyard in #Boulder thanks to our G5 #solarstorm big reds, oranges, and some greenish-blue streaks right now, at latitude 40°N 105°W - caught a helicopter, too
I got a pic of Multnomah Falls (east of Portland OR) with red aurora behind it - this is looking south. You know it's big when polar lights are south from here! #AuroraBorealis#astronomy#SpaceWeather
I got some more #AuroraBorealis pics overlooking the Columbia River near Mosier, Oregon. Mountains across the river are in Washington state. #astronomy#SpaceWeather