ANOTHER X-FLARE ON MAY 15: THE SOLAR ACTIVITY GROWING UP

Hi, there, how are you?

"When the week began, the sun hadn't unleashed an X-flare all year long. In only two days, sunspot AR1748 has produced four. The latest X-flare from this active sunspot occured on May 15th at 0152 UT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the extreme ultraviolet flash.

Although the sunspot is not directly facing Earth, this flare might have produced a CME with an Earth-directed component. We are waiting for coronagraph data from SOHO and the twin STEREO probes to check this possibility.

In summary, AR1748 has produced an X1.7-class flare (0217 UT on May 13), an X2.8-class flare (1609 UT on May 13), an X3.2-class flare (0117 UT on May 14), and an X1-class flare (0152 on May 15). These are the strongest flares of the year, and they signal a significant increase in solar activity."

[text from Dr. Tony Phillips, spaceweather.com]

For those who want to watch follow the solar activity and its effects on Earth, I suggest the free app MAGNETIC STORMS, avaliable for iPhone/iPad/iPod touch at

[link to itunes.apple.com (secure)]

For those who want to follow the solar activity by a webpage, these ones can give good info and are updated constantly

[link to www.swpc.noaa.gov]

[link to www.swpc.noaa.gov]

It seems our Sun is waking up, let's stay tuned for the next days activity!

Best regards