Big #sunspot AR3590 is as dangerous as it looks. Late yesterday (Feb. 21 @ 2307 UT), the active region produced a powerful X1.8-class #solarflare with a shortwave radio blackout over the western USA and Pacific Ocean. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme #ultraviolet #flash:
The explosion did not produce a CME, at least not a bright one. NOAA analysts are still inspecting SOHO coronagraph data for signs of a storm cloud. If they find one, it will be reported here.
This could be the first of many flares from AR3590. The sunspot has an unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for multiple #X-class #explosions
