Long duration M2.5 solar flare erupts off the southeast limb

Active region located behind the southeast limb of the Sun produced a long duration M2.5 solar flare on September 3, 2014. The event started at 13:20, peaked at 13:54 and ended 14:23 UTC.

If Coronal Mass Ejection was produced by this event it should be directed away from Earth. 

NOAA SWPC forecasters estimate 25% chance for M-class and 1% chance for X-class solar flares in next two days.

Regions that produced significant flares on September 1 and 2 will rotate into view within next 24 hours. 

Update: A narrow CME was observed in SOHO/LASCO C2 imagery emerging from the east at 14:00 UTC. Analysis suggested the ejecta was moving at 550 km/s and was not Earth-directed. 

Sunspots

There are currently 6 numbered sunspot regions on the disk. Region 2152 (S15W19, Eac/beta-gamma) continued to grow during last 24 hours, primarily in its intermediate spot area, and showed signs of separation between the leader and trailer spots. Region 2153 (S10W45, Dao/beta) exhibited signs of decay during the same period. Region 2154 (S19E29, Cao/beta) continued to show signs of growth, though that growth rate is slowed now.

Sunspots on September 3, 2014. Image credit: NASA SDO / HMI

2149 – Beta
2150 – Alpha
2151 – Alpha
2152 – Beta-Gamma
2153 – Beta
2154 – Beta

Featured image: NASA SDO / AIA 131