Sunspot Region AR 4366: A Solar Flare Factory

Sunspot Region AR 4366: A Solar Flare 'Factory'

Astrophotographer Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau: "Today at noon, from Argentina (UT−3), I captured this image of the Sun using my H-alpha telescope, at a moment of intense solar activity. The main feature is sunspot AR 4366, a true solar flare factory, which over the past 24 hours has produced 23 M-class flares and 4 X-class flares, including a powerful X8 event recorded yesterday. The photograph shows the full solar disk, allowing the enormous size of AR 4366 to be seen in its global context. At the time of capture, the region was particularly active, while multiple striking prominences are visible around the solar limb and several filaments can be seen across the disk, highlighting the strong magnetic instability currently affecting our star."

The most active sunspot of Solar Cycle 25 is turning toward Earth.

The light arriving here from the Sun at the H-alpha frequency (656.28 nanometers) comes from a rarified layer of hydrogen gas slightly above the photosphere, the bright surface of the Sun. This hydrogen layer is called the solar chromosphere, and it is invisible without using instruments to filter out brighter, competing bandwidths of light.

Occasionally, dark spots freckle the face of the Sun. These are sunspots, cooler regions on the Sun caused by a concentration of magnetic field lines. Sunspots are the visible component of active regions, areas of intense and complex magnetic fields on the Sun that are the source of solar eruptions. Sunspots can be seen on the Sun’s photosphere, or visible surface of the Sun. The number of sunspots goes up and down as the Sun goes through its natural 11-year cycle. Scientists use sunspots to help them track this cycle.  

Learn more about sunspots: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/sunspots/

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

Image Credit: Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau 
Location: Rafaela, Provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina
Eduardo's website: https://www.eduardoschaberger.ar
Image Date: Feb. 2, 2026

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