The Sun

HBS Guy

HBS Guy

Head Honcho 💉💉
Staff member
spaceweather.com:
Solar wind
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speed: 418.7 km/sec
density: 1.18 protons/cm3

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C4 0245 UT Aug03
24-hr: C4 0245 UT Aug03

Sunspot number: 132

A GIANT MAGNETIC SPIDER: Make that *two* giant magnetic spiders. New sunspot 4167 has two dark cores surrounded by magnetic fibrils stretching outward like spider legs. Dave Wilson recorded this video on Aug. 2nd from his backyard observatory in Inverness, Scotland:



"They are pulsating and sending waves out over the solar surface," says Wilson.

The cephalothoraxes of these arachnids are nearly as large as Earth, and the legs are more than 50,000 km long. Weaving electromagnetic webs across a sea of boiling hydrogen, sunspot 4167 reminds us that the sun is more than just a glowing ball. It’s a dynamic world with weather and 'creatures' of its own.

Next up: The explosion. Magnetic fields connecting the the two dark cores have a 'beta-gamma' configuration that harbors energy for strong M-class flares.
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HBS Guy

HBS Guy

Head Honcho 💉💉
Staff member
spaceweather.com:
Solar wind
speed: 552.1 km/sec
density: 2.25 protons/cm3

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M2 0457 UT Aug04
24-hr: M3 1357 UT Aug03

Sunspot number: 118

INCREASING CHANCE OF X-FLARES: Don't be surprised if there's a strong solar flare today. Over the weekend, two sunspots developed unstable 'delta-class' magnetic fields: 4167 and 4168. Both harbor energy for X-flares and significant CMEs
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HBS Guy

HBS Guy

Head Honcho 💉💉
Staff member
spaceweather.com:
Solar wind
speed: 350.6 km/sec
density: 8.39 protons/cm3

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M2 0353 UT Aug08
24-hr: M4 1131 UT Aug07

Sunspot number: 150

ACTIVE SUN: This has been an active week on the sun. Three large sunspots have grown on the solar disk, joining a half-a-dozen others already present. Together, the active regions have produced more than a dozen M-class solar flares and at least one Earth-directed CME (arriving today). A picture is worth 1000 words:

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Amateur astronomer Mike Borman of Evansville, Indiana, took the picture yesterday. It shows many sunspots seething with activity on a solar disk criss-crossed by unstable magnetic filaments. The stage is set for more explosions.

Of particular interest is sunspot 4186, the largest on the solar disk. It has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. If such a flare occurs, it could make the previous 7 days seem quiet by comparison.
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HBS Guy

HBS Guy

Head Honcho 💉💉
Staff member
spaceweather.com:
Solar wind
speed: 465.3 km/sec
density: 1.66 protons/cm3

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C9 0702 UT Aug09
24-hr: M1 1910 UT Aug08

Sunspot number: 177

GEOMAGNETIC STORMS TO CONTINUE TODAY: Geomagnetic storming is expected to continue on Aug. 9th as Earth's magnetic field reverberates from a CME strike on Aug. 8th. It was just a glancing blow, so all of the storm activity so far has been minor (G1-class). High-latitude observers should be alert for auroras, although they may be hard to see in the full moonlight.
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HBS Guy

HBS Guy

Head Honcho 💉💉
Staff member
spaceweather.com:
Solar wind
speed: 600.9 km/sec
density: 0.85 protons/cm3

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C6 0354 UT Aug10
24-hr: M1 1640 UT Aug09

Sunspot number: 137

SUBSIDING STORM SPARKS AUGUST AURORAS: A geomagnetic storm that began on Aug 8th when a CME passed near Earth is subsiding as we exit the CME's wake. During the 24-hour event, storm conditions ranged from G1 to G2 with auroras photographed in the USA as far south as Minnesota and Utah.
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HBS Guy

HBS Guy

Head Honcho 💉💉
Staff member
spaceweather.com:
Solar wind
speed: 415.1 km/sec
density: 10.91 protons/cm3

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M1 0439 UT Aug19
24-hr: M1 0439 UT Aug19

Sunspot number: 73

LONG-DURATION SOLAR FLARE: New sunspot 4188 exploded, producing an M1-class solar flare that lasted more than 3 hours. The long-duration event engulfed almost half of the sun's southeastern limb (movie https://spaceweather.com/images2025/19aug25/lde_teal_crop.gif) and probably hurled a significant CME into space. Stay tuned for updates.

A PLASMA TORNADO ON THE SUN: Yesterday, astronomers around the world witnessed a fiery twister unraveling above the sun's surface. It wasn’t a storm of wind and rain, but a plasma tornado--a column of hot gas spiraling thousands of kilometers high:

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"My wife helped me capture this twister," says Maximilian-Vlad Teodorescu of Romania's Institute of Space Science, who photographed the storm despite drifting clouds and turbulent afternoon air. "The telescope's mount was not properly aligned, so she centered the subject while I recorded the data--teamwork!"

Unlike tornadoes on Earth, solar tornadoes are not caused by pressure differences in the atmosphere. Instead, they are sculpted by twisted magnetic fields that channel plasma upward at speeds reaching 300,000 kilometers per hour. For comparison, the mightiest twisters on Earth are almost a thousand times slower.

Solar tornadoes can be surprisingly stable, swirling for hours or even days. Sometimes they dissolve in a harmless puff. Other times, they erupt, hurling plasma into space as part of a coronal mass ejection (CME). In this case, the tornado was relatively calm, holding its shape without producing a major eruption.

The plasma is still spinning today. If you have a solar telescope, take a look!
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HBS Guy

HBS Guy

Head Honcho 💉💉
Staff member
spaceweather.com:
Solar wind
speed: 608.6 km/sec
density: 1.20 protons/cm3

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C2 0936 UT Aug20
24-hr: C2 0936 UT Aug20

Sunspot number: 36

GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: The action started yesterday. Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms broke out on Aug. 19th when Earth entered a fast-moving stream of solar wind. The action could intensify today. NOAA forecasters expect a CME to graze Earth's magnetic field on Aug. 20th, potentially boosting storm levels to G2. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras after local nightfall.
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