X1.2 solar flare
Friday, 6 January 2023 19:16 UTC
A surprise this night from sunspot region 3182 which has just rotated into view. It produced a major X1.2 solar flare (R3-strong) at 00:58 UTC.
It is likely that this is the same sunspot region was the source of a major far side coronal mass ejection a few days ago. While this solar flare was of course strong (5th strongest of Solar Cycle 25 thus far) it was still fairly impulsive and it did not release a coronal mass ejection into space.
The sunspot region is still too close to the limb to accurately analyse its magnetic layout but it is by far the most interesting sunspot region on the disk right now and should be monitored in the days ahead for more flaring activity.
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Space weather facts
| Last X-flare | 2026/04/24 | X2.5 |
| Last M-flare | 2026/05/17 | M1.4 |
| Last geomagnetic storm | 2026/05/16 | Kp6- (G2) |
| Spotless days | |
|---|---|
| Last 365 days | 3 days |
| 2026 | 3 days (2%) |
| Last spotless day | 2026/02/24 |
| Monthly mean Sunspot Number | |
|---|---|
| April 2026 | 79.3 -6.6 |
| May 2026 | 90.4 +11.1 |
| Last 30 days | 99.3 +8.3 |