Sol (Sun) and its phenomena

[Olivierlejardinier]

Despite his size AR 4294 is still quiet for now.
Newly named sunspot AR 4295 (old AR 4274) already produced an X1.9 flare during the night.

And a new active region has been spotted erupting shortly after the previous X flare, from spaceweather forum:

 

[Gaby]

Completely insane activity! December might become a record in the history of solar physics!!

The highest level X flares have resumed on the Sun.

xras

Early this morning at 05:49 Moscow time, a new X1.9 event was recorded on the northeastern edge of the Sun after a two-week hiatus (since November 14). For science, the whole situation seems, in a sense, completely insane, since the explosion on the side of the star facing Earth was again produced by the same single region on the Sun (No. 4274), which has essentially been single-handedly generating all the extreme solar activity over the past two months.

It was this active center that, in the second half of October, in times that now seem infinitely distant, hit the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS with plasma emissions as it flew past the Sun. It also “terrorized” the Earth in the first half of November, when, after six months of calm on the Sun, it produced five X-class flares at once. It was here that the two largest flares of the year occurred, X5.1 on November 11 and X4.0 on November 14, after which, due to the Sun's rotation, the active center moved to the opposite side of the Sun behind the western horizon for two weeks. And today, after the active region passed over the far side and returned to Earth's field of view on the left edge, a new X-level explosion occurred on the very first day.

Due to its current location, the event has almost no chance of affecting the Earth with plasma shocks. At this point, we can note the exceptional beauty of the flare, accompanied by large ejections of matter, which looked particularly impressive from this viewing angle. However, the further forecast for the coming week based on nighttime observations looks very negative. It is clear that during its stay on the far side of the Sun, the active center has fully preserved its frankly inexplicable, bottomless reserves of energy and, having lived on the Sun for two months already, is unlikely to suddenly disintegrate in the next three to four days.

After this time, that is, approximately on Thursday, December 4, the region will enter the zone of influence on Earth and begin to hit the Earth with plasma clouds. An additional negative factor is the presence of a second large active region, No. 4294, in the southern hemisphere of the Sun, which appears to be the largest this year. If explosions begin there as well (despite its size, it has not yet shown extreme activity), then, to put it mildly, the beginning of December 2025 may well go down in the history of solar physics.

Video in original quality (6 MB) — link.

 

[EmeraldR]

came across this on a spaceweather forum
quite revealing in some ways

<<Airbus says that flights will be disrupted after it requested immediate modifications to thousands of its planes.

The plane manufacturer says it has found that intense radiation from the Sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls.>>

Flight disruption warning as Airbus requests modifications to 6,000 planes

The European aerospace giant said it had found that intense radiation from the Sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls.

www.bbc.com

and here is the link from the discussion thread on spaceweather live disussion forums disussing this.

Airbus issues re Solar radiation

Hi,My apologies if this is in the wrong section or not allowed.Late last night I spotted an article on BBC about the grounding of at least 6000 aircraft after high levels of Solar Radiation were found to have caused the sudden loss of altitude resulting in 15 injuries on at least one JetBlue flig...

community.spaceweatherlive.com

 

[Gaby]

The largest complex of sunspots has formed on the Sun this year.

xras.ru

The southern group of sunspots, which reached the Earth two days ago, has reached its largest size this year. The total area of the complex, measured at the beginning of the day, is 1,600 units, which is still about 60% of the size of the largest groups of spots in the 21st century (values of about 2,800 units), but already one third more than the previous record of the year of 1,200 units, achieved in May 2025 (region No. 4079).

No hard feelings for NOAA, but as usual, the Russians say as it is, because they're less ponerized:

Weak-minded NOAA astronomers responsible for assigning numbers to groups of spots, obviously struggling with panic in their ranks, today made an attempt to "mitigate the shock" and divided this complex into three groups of spots at once. The single area of the complex was divided in the catalog between three numbers: 4296 (left spots), 4294 (central spots) and 4298 (right spots), as a result of which the central group 4294 lost a significant share of its legal area, lost weight in the catalog to 1,100 units, and now formally occupies only the second place of the year. However, few doubt that tomorrow she will regain the lost ground, although perhaps the fight is not over yet and NOAA has already prepared a new pair of numbers for a retaliatory strike. However, all these actions do not affect the objective total size of the group.

The most important mystery of the last two days is the silence of this group, which in terms of incomprehensibility has already equaled the equally fundamental problem of the silence of the universe. Group 4274, currently located in the north of the Sun (today it received the number 4299), produced a new X flash today, having an official area of only 100 (!) units, and during the last passage past the Earth produced 5 X flashes, having an area of 1100. Formed in the north, the largest spot complex of the year with an area of 1,600, which is in question, has been marked by only one weak C-level outbreak over the past day. It is unclear what the energy stored here is used for, which at such a size should be huge. There are actually two options here. Either there is a serious plan to go down in history and energy is being accumulated for a super explosion, or we don't even know... There are big and kind people, let's assume that a big and kind spot has formed on the Sun. Let's, in general, believe in the second option and also send rays of goodness back to the Sun)

 

[Wandering Star]

The largest complex of sunspots has formed on the Sun this year.


View attachment 113952

xras.ru



No hard feelings for NOAA, but as usual, the Russians say as it is, because they're less ponerized:

It's a huge alignment and soon it will point directly at our planet.

If world leaders were human, they would already have all those responsible for electrical infrastructure on high alert, to be able to salvage something in case of a direct hit high power.

The perfect geo-effective alignment and size are very impressive.

 

[Gaby]

This promises to be exciting, whether if the sun goes quiet or if it shoots energy at us, it's equally amazing.

Sunspot group 4294 became the second largest in the last 10 years

xras.ru

A giant complex of sunspots, consisting of three groups 4294, 4296, and 4298, which appeared a few days ago on the southeastern edge of the Sun, continues to break records. The total area of the complex, which, despite its artificial division into three numbers in the catalog, represents a single structure from a physical point of view, exceeded 2,000 units this morning and amounted to 2,200 units. This is already approaching record values, observed only a few times in the 21st century. For comparison, the area of sunspot group No. 486, which in October-November 2003 produced a series of the largest flares of the current century, was 2,600 units.

For the central group of the complex, numbered 4294, an area of 1,450 units was measured this morning, which already makes it the second largest individual group observed on the Sun since 2015. A larger active region, numbered 3664, was observed only once during this period, in May 2024, and it was this region that caused the strongest magnetic storm in 20 years.

Against this backdrop, the main mystery remains the inexplicably low level of observed solar activity. The graph of solar flares after yesterday's X-class flare, to which this complex of sunspots has no relation, stubbornly continues to draw a straight line. It should be noted that the basic physics of solar flares is based on very simple principles. Flares are simply a way for the Sun's atmosphere to get rid of excess energy that accumulates in large active centers. Why this normal mechanism fails in this case remains unclear. Either for some reason the area does not generate energy, which seems unlikely given its size, or, as noted earlier, this energy is currently being actively accumulated. It should be noted that the enormous size and relatively simple linear structure of the complex should contribute to the formation of giant stable electric currents, which are precisely the main mechanism of energy accumulation in the solar corona.

At this point, it can be noted that the sunspot complex is young and has formed in its current size over the past three weeks, mainly while located on the far side of the Sun. In mid-November, when this side of the Sun was turned towards Earth, the first barely discernible spots were just beginning to appear here. It can also be said with a high degree of certainty that the complex has not yet produced any major flares. While it was on that side of the Sun, no signs of major explosions were observed in this part of the star. In this sense, the issue of the absence of strong flares in this group is broader than the problem of the last few days and, apparently, applies to its entire existence. If we side with the energy accumulation hypothesis, this leads to some unpleasant conclusions.

There is essentially no forecast for the coming days. In simple terms, a “black swan” has formed on the Sun. The scenario that it will pass in such a size from edge to edge majestically and silently, as it looks now, and the scenario of a series of the largest X10-X20 flares in a decade in such a situation are equally probable and equally unpredictable. All that remains is to observe.