Images of an M4.4 class flare produced by AR12790 at the eastern solar limb. These show the flare both during (left) and after (right) the peak of the event.
Click the image or this link for the movie of the event.
M4.4 Class Flare from AR12790
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At approximately 12 UT on November 29th Active Region 12790 produced the first M class flare of the new solar cycle 25. This explosive event occured as the region was just starting to rotate onto the visible disk of the Sun. In addition to releasing a massive amount of energy, a large amount of matter can be seen ejected from the Sun in a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). Although this event did send a bunch of high energy particles out into space, it was not directed towards Earth and so we observed very little impact here. This was the largest solar event to occur in over 3 years. As the Sun begins to exit the Solar Minimum transition between cycles, we can expect to observe an increase in the number of active regions and the amount of high energy solar flare events. The above images show the event at its peak (left) as well as the structures left behind in AR12790 after the event calmed down (right). A brief solar tornado could also be observed jutting out beyond the disk at the peak of the event! Keywords: Flare, Limb Filters: Al_Poly |
(Prepared by Lucas Guliano)
The XRT instrument team is comprised of SAO, NASA, JAXA, and NAOJ.
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