X-class flare at 1555 UTC (11:55 am ET)

Active region 12887 emitted an X-class flare today at 1555 UTC. There also appears to be a filament eruption (the precursor to a coronal mass ejection). This is the second X-class flare of Solar Cycle 25 (the first was on July 3, 2021.)

Before the flare a filament cam be seen over AR 12887 (in the blue circle).

The flare begins to brighten up at 1529 UTC.

The filament liftoff from the surface can be seen as the dark region a litle to the left of the flare in the third image.

The flare continues to brighten until its peak flux. Check out the flare in the Browse AIA/HMI Images at the SDO website.
Solar Cycle 25 is alive and well!

October 2021 Instrument Calibration Maneuvers have Finished

The October 2021 Instrument Calibration maneuvers have finished. During an instrument calibration maneuver SDO science data may be missing, blurry, or misaligned. The first two cannot be corrected but roll angle is no longer seen as a rotation of the solar image.

• 13 Oct 2021: EVE Cruciform, 1400–1852 UTC (10:00 am - 2:52 pm ET)
• 20 Oct 2021: HMI Roll Maneuver, 1400-2040 UTC (10:00 am - 4:40 pm ET)
• 27 Oct 2021: EVE FOV and HMI/AIA Flatfield Calibrations (EVE FOV @ 1315 UTC; HMI/AIA Flatfield @ 1630 UTC)

The next set of calibration maneuvers will be in January 2022 (EVE Cruciform, EVE FOV, and HMI/AIA Flatfield) and April 2022 (HMI Roll).