Sun news: Beautiful auroras possible tonight

Mar 4, 2025 - 20:34

Sun news for March 3-4, 2025. A blast of sun-stuff is expected to reach Earth later today into tomorrow. Geomagnetic activity is expected to reach G1 (minor) or G2 (moderate). That could mean auroras visible at higher latitudes, including northern U.S. states. Image via NOAA.

Sun news March 4. Beautiful auroras possible tonight

(11 UTC to 11 UTC)

Today’s top story: A great burp of sun-stuff (a coronal mass ejection or CME) is expected to glance Earth late today or early tomorrow. It was fired from our star in a filament eruption on March 1. And it could give our planet’s magnetic field a pretty good whack tonight! Forecasters expect this to trigger a G1 (minor) or even a G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm. And that means a good chance for auroras at high latitudes, including areas in Canada, the northern U.S., and Scandinavia. Good luck, and clear skies!

Sun-Earth highlights in the past day

Flare activity still at low over the past 24 hours. The largest flare event was a C3.4 flare at 0:52 UTC on March 4 from sunspot region AR4006 in the southeast.
Total flares: 12 C-class flares were fired over the past 24 hours. Flare productivity increased compared to the previous day, which saw nine Cs.
The number of active regions on the Earth-facing solar disk is currently six. AR4007 has lost its high-potential delta region, and today it shows a lower-potential beta-gamma magnetic configuration along with AR4012. The other sunspot groups are showing simple beta configurations.
Blasts from the sun? No new coronal mass ejections (CMEs) have been observed in available coronagraph imagery.
Solar wind: Solar winds were at ~420 km/s to ~445 km/s (~940,000 mph to ~995,000 mph) over the past 24 hours. The interplanetary magnetic field (a critical factor in creating auroras) decreased in strength, with the Bz (north/south component) mostly north oriented, meaning less geomagnetic activity.
Geomagnetic activity: Our geomagnetic field has been mostly quiet at Kp 2 levels, with a slight peak near Kp 3.

What’s ahead? Sun-Earth forecast

Low-to-moderate flare activity is expected for the next 24 hours, with a chance of isolated M-class (moderate) flares. The chance for M flares is 30%. The chance for X flares is 1% today. Activity may increase slightly if large, promising region AR4012 on the solar southeast quadrant brings some action.
Blasts from the sun? We’re anticipating a glancing coronal mass ejection (CME) impact late Tuesday (March 4).
Geomagnetic activity forecast A G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm is possible on March 4-5 due to a glancing blow from the CME hurled into space on March 1. Activity should return to quiet or unsettled levels on March 6 as CME effects subside.

Sun news for March 3-4, 2025. This is a NOAA computer model showing a coronal mass ejection (CME) expected to glance Earth today (March 4) or tomorrow (March 5). Image via NOAA.

The sun, seen as a large yellow sphere with dark spots, each labeled. — This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of 5 UTC on March 4, 2025. Original image, without labels, via NASA SDO. Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky. Today’s sun is posted by Armando Caussade. Why are east and west on the sun reversed?

Sun news March 3. A solar burp is heading our way

(11 UTC to 11 UTC)

A filament eruption on March 1 blasted out a great burp of sun-stuff (a coronal mass ejection or CME), and it’s on its way to Earth. It’s expected to give our magnetic field a glancing blow late tomorrow, March 4. This could cause G1 (minor) or G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm conditions. And that could mean auroras at high latitudes, including Canada, the northern U.S. states and northern Europe. Stay tuned!

Sun-Earth highlights in the past day

Flare activity remained low over the past 24 hours. The largest event was a C2.9 flare flare at 9:38 UTC on March 2 from sunspot region 4011 in the southeast.
Total flares: 9 C-class flares over the past 24 hours.
The number of active regions on the Earth-facing solar disk has declined to seven, but five main sunspot groups are showing an increase in complexity.
Blasts from the sun? A filament eruption from the solar southeast at 17:30 UTC on March 1 launched a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. It’s expected to arrive late on March 4, possibly causing geomagnetic storming.
Solar wind: Solar winds are gradually weakening as the coronal hole high-speed stream wanes. Speeds declined from ~600 km/s to ~445 km/s (1,342,000 mph to 995,437 mph) over the past 24 hours. The interplanetary magnetic field (a critical factor in creating auroras) is decreasing in strength, with the Bz (north/south component) trending weakly northward.
Geomagnetic activity: Our geomagnetic field has been mostly quiet, with no significant disturbances detected.

Sun news for March 2-3, 2025. A filament erupted in the southeast of the solar disk on March 1, sending a big burp of solar material (a coronal mass ejection or CME) toward Earth. This could bring a G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm to Earth. Images via SDO and SOHO.

The sun in recent days

Earlier sun images

Sun images from our community

The sun, seen as a large white sphere with small dark spots. — Chile, captured this filtered image of the sun on March 3, 2025. Patricio wrote: “AR4012 at left grew fast the last day and it now dominates the sun’s face along with AR4007 at right, although only the last one possesses a delta component capable of producing X-flares.” Thank you, Patricio!

The sun, seen as a large yellow sphere with a mottled surface. — Virginia, captured this filtered image on March 3, 2025. Mario wrote: “Hydrogen-alpha image of the sun with an interesting looking prominence on the east limb.” Thank you, Mario!

The sun, seen as a large yellow sphere with small dark spots, each numbered. — United Kingdom, captured this filtered image of the sun on March 2, 2025. David wrote: “Clear skies, near perfect conditions. Solar disk is dominated by two pairs of regions AR4008/4009 and AR4004/4007. Slim pickings rolling into view on the eastern side (so far), hopefully more to come.” Thank you, David!

Are you a fan of sun images? We invite you all to send us your beautiful recent photos of sunspots and auroras. We love receiving them and sharing them! And to those of you who’ve already posted a photo to our community page, thank you.