{"id":801520,"date":"2026-04-04T03:21:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T08:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=801520"},"modified":"2026-04-04T03:21:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T08:21:28","slug":"impulsive-m7-5-solar-flare-erupts-from-earth-facing-region-4409-geomagnetic-conditions-remain-elevated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=801520","title":{"rendered":"Impulsive M7.5 solar flare erupts from Earth-facing Region 4409, geomagnetic conditions remain elevated"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Region 4409 is located at the center of the solar disk, suggesting any coronal mass ejection (CME) produced by it would be Earth-directed.<\/p>\n

However, this event was impulsive in nature, and there were no radio signatures detected that would indicate a CME was produced.<\/p>\n

The region maintains a \u2018beta-gamma\u2019 magnetic configuration and is capable of producing more strong eruptions on the Sun. Earth-directed CMEs from AR 4409 will remain a possibility in the days ahead.<\/p>\n

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Sunspots on April 4, 2026. Credit: NASA SDO\/HMI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Solar activity was at moderate levels in 24 hours to 00:30 UTC on April 4. Aforementioned Ragion 4409 produced the majority of X-ray activity during the period, which included two impulsive M1.3 flares at 07:56 and 12:50 UTC on April 3.<\/p>\n

The region exhibited penumbral growth while consolidating spots near its leader, while the remaining spotted regions on the visible disk were either mostly stable or in gradual decay.<\/p>\n

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\"sunspots
Sunspots on April 4, 2026. Credit: NASA SDO\/HMI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux reached high levels with a peak flux of 4 465 pfu during the same period. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux remained elevated throughout the period, reaching a level of 6 pfu at 04:05 UTC on April 3, but remained below S1 \u2013 Minor levels.<\/p>\n

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\"goes-proton-flux-5-m-april-4-2026\"
Image credit: SWPC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Solar wind parameters indicated influence from a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) until 15:03 UTC on April 3, when an interplanetary shock was observed from the arrival of a CME that left the Sun on April 1.<\/p>\n

The shock increased the total magnetic field strength from 5 nT to a peak of 14 nT. Bz was mostly oriented southward, with a peak negative value of -11 nT observed at 15:18 UTC. Solar wind speeds increased from ~625 km\/s to ~800 km\/s, and then entered a gradual decline with values near 700 km\/s by the end of the UTC day.<\/p>\n

The geomagnetic field reached G3 \u2013 Strong geomagnetic storm levels following the arrival of a CME that left the Sun on April 1.<\/p>\n

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\"rtsw
Image credit: SWPC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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\"estimated-planetary-k-in-april-4-2026\"
Image credit: SWPC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Solar activity is likely to reach moderate levels, with a slight chance for X-class flares, through April 6, driven primarily by the flare potential of Regions 4404, 4405, and 4409.<\/p>\n

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux is expected to reach high levels through April 6. There is a slight chance for the greater than 10 MeV proton flux to exceed S1 \u2013 Minor solar radiation storm levels over the same period.<\/p>\n

The solar wind environment is expected to remain enhanced through April 6 due to waning CME effects, followed by negative polarity CH HSS influences.<\/p>\n

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\"charmap
Image credit: Solen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The geomagnetic field is likely to reach G1 \u2013 Minor to G2 \u2013 Moderate storm levels on April 4 due to the combined effects of a CME that left the Sun on April 1 and the influence from a negative polarity CH HSS.<\/p>\n

G1 \u2013 Minor conditions are likely on April 5 and active conditions on April 6 as negative polarity CH HSS influences wane and any remnant CME enhancements subside.<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

1<\/sup> Forecast Discussion \u2013 NOAA\/SWPC \u2013 Issued at 00:30 UTC on April 4, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Region 4409 is located at the center of the solar disk, suggesting any coronal mass ejection (CME) produced by it would be Earth-directed. However, this event was impulsive in nature,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":801521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-801520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-space-weather-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=801520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/801521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=801520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=801520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=801520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}