M2.4 solar flare erupts from the northeast limb
After 18 days with no notable flaring, our star unleashed an M2.4 solar flare from an emerging region on the northeast limb. The flare began at 03:42, peaked at 04:17 and ended at 04:37 UTC.
M2.4 solar flare erupts from northeast limb on July 8, 2025. Credit: NASA/SDO AIA 304, The Watchers
A coronal mass ejection (CME) was produced but the location of the responsible region near the northeast limb doesn’t favor Earth directed CMEs. This will change in the days ahead as it rotates toward the center of the solar disk.
Radio frequencies were forecast to be most degraded over East Asia at the time of the flare.
Solar activity was at low levels for more than two weeks before the M2.4 flare today, with only C-class activity registered. A filament lift-off centered near N35E05 began around 01:00 UTC on July 7 but the associated CME lifted off to the north and is not expected to be Earth-directed.
There is a 35% chance of M-class flares through July 10, and a 1% chance of X-class flares.
There are currently seven numbered active regions on the Earth-side of the Sun.
AR 4125 (N22W59 – Alpha)
AR 4127 (S20W72 – Beta)
AR 4128 (S05W71 – Beta)
AR 4129 (N02W57 – Beta)
AR 4130 (S10W24 – Beta)
AR 4134 (S23W28 – Beta)
AR 4135 (S09E69 – Beta)
Solar wind parameters over the past 24 hours reflected continued but waning influences from a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). The total magnetic field declined from 14 nT to about 6 nT, with solar wind speeds around 550 km/s. Mildly elevated solar wind conditions are expected to persist through July 8 before returning to nominal by July 9 and 10.
The geomagnetic field reached G1 – Minor storm levels early in the UTC day due to negative polarity CH HSS influence. Geomagnetic activity is expected to continue at unsettled to active levels as CH HSS influence diminishes today. Mostly quiet conditions are anticipated on July 9 and 10 with the return of nominal solar wind parameters.
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- In September 1859, a solar storm lit up the night sky so brightly that gold miners in the Rocky Mountains woke up after midnight and started cooking breakfast, convinced the aurora glowing over their camp was the sunrise Epicenter
- A patch of warm Pacific water that could become the strongest El Niño in more than 70 years sits thousands of miles from any American town, yet it is already the main reason NOAA expects a wetter winter across the South and a milder one across the North
- A 19-year-old Nebraska teacher reportedly tied her pupils together with twine and led them to safety through a blizzard in January 1888 Epicenter
- NASA built the Opportunity rover to last 90 days on Mars, and Martian winds helped keep it alive for nearly 15 years by blowing dust off its solar panels, until a planet-wide dust storm in 2018 blocked sunlight and silenced the rover Epicenter
