Former Giant Sunspot AR3664 Returns as AR3697
Sun news for May 29, 2024: A former giant sunspot is back!
The monster active region AR3664 is back on the Earth-facing sun, now labeled AR3697. The sun’s rotation has carried it back into view. And what an entrance! It was apparently the source of yesterday’s X2.9 flare, seen before the region had come fully into view over the solar horizon. Today, the region is still close to the sun’s southeast limb (edge). So a full analysis isn’t possible yet. But it appears that – during its transit on the far side of our star – this region decayed a bit. It’s still big, but not as big as it was. It’s showing a beta-gamma magnetic configuration. And it’s putting out flares. This region brought today’s sun activity level up to moderate, by producing two M flares. It’s today’s lead flare producer, with 18 total flares.
During its past incarnation as AR3664, it produced 11 X flares from May 6 to May 14. It was the producer of the largest X flare of Solar Cycle 25 so far, an X8.8 on May 14. And it was a main player in the huge geomagnetic storm we experienced on May 10. Let’s see what it’s got to offer this time.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is now moderate. During our observation period (11 UTC yesterday to 11 UTC today), the sun produced a total of 21 flares, two Ms and 19 C flares. The largest was an M1.5 flare by active region AR3697 at 6:45 UTC on May 29. Shortly after the explosion, an R1 (minor) radio blackout was registered, affecting an area over India. The other M was an M1.2 by AR2697 at 1:06 UTC on May 29. This time, the corresponding R1 (minor) radio blackout affected an area over the Pacific Ocean. Lead flare producer of the period is prolific AR2697, which blasted out 18 flares, the two mentioned Ms plus 16 C flares. Currently, the sun has eight labeled active regions on its Earth-facing side.
Next 24 hours: The chance for C flares is 99%. The chance for M flares is 60%. The chance for X flares is 30% today.
Next expected CME: A partial halo event was observed on SOHO’s LASCO C2 at 5:24 UTC on May 28. The coronal mass ejection (CME) produced was on the far side of our star, thus not Earth-bound. The two M flares of the past day are under modeling and analysis to determine if there is an Earth-directed component.
Current geomagnetic activity: Earth’s magnetic field is quiet at the time of this writing (11 UTC on May 29). Active levels are expected later on today, May 29, with chances for a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm due to an impact wave by a shock influence of the possible arrival of a component of the CME hurled by the sun on May 27. Conditions may return to quiet-to-unsettled levels as the shock effects wane.
Bottom line: Sun news May 29, 2024. Former active region AR3664 is back! When we last saw it on the Earth-facing side of our star, it produced the biggest X flare of Solar Cycle 25 so far.
