X3.1 solar flare from sunspot region 2192

Friday, 24 October 2014 22:00 UTC

X3.1 solar flare from sunspot region 2192

Sunspot region 2192 (now the largest sunspot region in 24 years) produced a major X3.19 solar flare (R3-strong radio blackout) at 21:41 UTC. This was the third and also the strongest X-class solar flare from this sunspot region and the sixth strongest solar flare of the current solar cycle.

Big Bear Solar Observatory GONG H-alpha

SDO/AIA 94 Ångström

SDO/AIA 131 Ångström

SDO/AIA 193 Ångström

SDO/AIA 304 Ångström

 

SDO/AIA 1600 Ångström and SDO/HMI overlay

 

Coronagraph imagery is not yet available to confirm the launch of a coronal mass ejection but the lack of any significant coronal dimming (traces in the solar corona of ejected material) suggests there might not be a major coronal mass ejection associated with this event despite the long duration of the solar flare. This solar flare looks pretty similar to the previous X-class solar flares that also failed to launch a coronal mass ejection.

The magnetic loops holding this group together just do not want to break and release a coronal mass ejection it seems, just like all other previous solar flares (excluding today's M-class solar flare) also failed to produce coronal mass ejections. This is a shame as sunspot region 2192 is now in a great position for any eruptions to be earth-directed but we do need to wait for coronagraph imagery from SOHO to be 100% sure that there is again no or only a minor coronal mass ejection. This post will be updated as soon as more information becomes available so keep checking back.

Be sure to also check out our other update that we posted today. 

NOAA SWPC alerts

ALERT: X-Ray Flux exceeded M5
Threshold Reached: 2014 Oct 24 2113 UTC
NOAA Scale: R2 - Moderate
SUMMARY: X-ray Event exceeded X1
Begin Time: 2014 Oct 24 2107 UTC
Maximum Time: 2014 Oct 24 2141 UTC
End Time: 2014 Oct 24 2213 UTC
X-ray Class: X3.1
Optical Class: 3b
Location: S12W22
NOAA Scale: R3 - Strong

No coronal mass ejection confirmation (ADDED: 23:00 UTC)

Here is the latest coronagraph image from SOHO/LASCO C2 showing... nothing.

As expected, the X3.1 solar flare is not eruptive and no coronal mass ejection was launched. Sad news for aurora lovers around the world but it is how it is!

Images: NASA SDO and ESA/NASA SOHO.

Any mentioned solar flare in this article has a scaling factor applied by the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the reported solar flares are 42% smaller than for the science quality data. The scaling factor has been removed from our archived solar flare data to reflect the true physical units.

Thank you for reading this article! Did you have any trouble with the technical terms used in this article? Our help section is the place to be where you can find in-depth articles, a FAQ and a list with common abbreviations. Still puzzled? Just post on our forum where we will help you the best we can! Never want to miss out on a space weather event or one of our news articles again? Subscribe to our mailing list, follow us on Twitter and Facebook and download the SpaceWeatherLive app for Android and iOS!

Latest news

Support SpaceWeatherLive.com!

A lot of people come to SpaceWeatherLive to follow the Sun's activity or if there is aurora to be seen, but with more traffic comes higher server costs. Consider a donation if you enjoy SpaceWeatherLive so we can keep the website online!

23%
Support SpaceWeatherLive with our merchandise
Check out our merchandise

Latest alerts

Get instant alerts!

Space weather facts

Last X-flare2024/03/23X1.1
Last M-flare2024/03/28M6.1
Last geomagnetic storm2024/03/25Kp5 (G1)
Spotless days
Last spotless day2022/06/08
Monthly mean Sunspot Number
February 2024124.7 +1.7

This day in history*

Solar flares
12024M7.0
22001M6.17
32024M6.1
42000M4.46
52022M4.0
ApG
1200144G2
2200327G2
3199721G2
4201727G1
5200421G1
*since 1994

Social networks