Overview
- An international team combined ESA’s Solar Orbiter and NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory data to follow active region NOAA 13664 nearly continuously across three solar rotations.
- The region emerged on April 16, 2024, on the Sun’s far side and decayed after July 18, providing an end-to-end view of its life cycle.
- Researchers documented the magnetic field becoming increasingly intertwined, culminating in the strongest solar flare in about two decades on May 20 from the far side.
- As the region rotated into Earth view in May 2024, it triggered the strongest geomagnetic storms since 2003, causing widespread auroras and disruptions to satellites, communications, power systems, and modern agriculture.
- The results, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics and hailed as a milestone, strengthen the scientific basis for forecasting, with ESA’s Vigil mission planned for 2031 to enhance space-weather monitoring.