Big active region on the farside! Solar Orbiter is currently able to see the farside of the Sun–the part not facing Earth. There is a very large and complex active region along with some other smaller regions that have recently developed.
This is encouraging for solar activity purposes since recently we have seen a "hot longitude" which results in the sunspot number fluctuating between ~150 and ~50 every 27 days (length of solar rotation).
These groups on the farside may indicate a more sustained period of high sunspot number may be in store for us! Let's hope some of these large regions survive the farside passage and remain complex enough to launch flares and CMEs! It's been awhile…
Text Vincent Ledvina
https://bsky.app/profile/vincentledvina.bsky.social/post/3mkt4owpfyk2q
Photos
by Neaterntal