Moderate M3.1 solar flare erupted from AR 1936 located at the center of the disk

Moderate solar flare reaching M3.1 erupted from beta-gamma Region 1936 on December 29 at 07:56 UTC. Region 1936 is located at the center of the disk, it is in almost perfect geoeffective position and is currently the only flaring region on Earth side of the Sun. Any CME from this region would be Earth directed. Click here to see the video of M3.1 event.

NOAA SWPC forecasters estimated 25% chance for M-class, and 1% chance for X-class solar flare today.

Yesterday, Region 1934 (see image below) indicated growth in the intermediate portion of the region with a weak delta apparent in the leader spot. Region 1936 maintained a weak mix of polarities in its trailer portion. Minor consolidation and penumbral growth was noted in the leader portion with an overall increase in region spot count.

There are currently 5 active sunspot regions on the Earth side of the Sun.

Sunspots on December 29, 2013. Image credit: NASA SDO/HMI

1930 S08W0* 332 30 1 HSX 1 Alpha
1931 S15W58 287 140 3 HSX 1 Alpha
1934 S18W38 267 160 13 ESI 15 Beta-Gamma-Delta
1936 S17E06 223 140 13 EAC 21 Beta-Gamma
1937 S12E33 196 10 6 BXO 5 Beta
1938 S12E50 179 120 3 HAX 3 Alpha

Featured image: NASA SDO AIA 131-193-171