This video shows the solar activity from July 2, 13:00 UT through July 5, 13:00 UT in two different wavelengths.

The red filter (304 angstroms) is a channel especially good at showing areas where coolers dense plumes of plasma (filaments and prominences) are located above the visible surface of the Sun. The bright areas show places where the plasma has a high density. The temperature seen here is 50,000 degrees K or 90,000 degrees F.

The turquoise filter (131 angstroms) is a channel designated to study solar flares. It measures extremely hot temperatures around 10 million degrees K or 18 million degrees F.

During the period from July 2 to July 5 (13:00 UT) there were 18 M-class solar flares. Most originated from Active Region 1515 and ranged from M1.1 to M6.1. On July 4th alone the following M-class solar flares occurred:

04:37 UT M2.3
09:55 UT M5.3
12:24 UT M2.3
14:40 UT M1.3
16:39 UT M1.8
22:09 UT M4.6
23:55 UT M1.2

Solar Flares are categorized by C, M and X. C-class flares are small with only few noticeable consequences on Earth. M-class flares are medium sized and can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. X-class flares are the biggest and they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.

Each category for flares as nine subdivisions fringing from 1 to 9. For example C1 is lower than C9. And X4 is larger than M8. The only exception is the x-class category; it does not end at 9 and can go up past 10.

Credit: NASA SDO

From July 2 to July 5, the Sun shot off a whopping eighteen M-class solar flares. Most originated from Active Region 1515 and ranged from M1.1 to M6.1. On July 4th alone, there were seven M-class solar flares. According to SpaceWeather.com, big sunspot AR1515 appears to be on the verge of producing an X-class explosion. NOAA forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-flares and a 10% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours.

The same region has also produced numerous coronal mass ejections (CMEs). They have been observed and modeled by NASA’s Space Weather Center (SWC) and are thought to be moving relatively slowly, traveling between 300 and 600 miles per second. Most flew south of the ecliptic plane (the orbital plane of the planets), and won’t be an issue, but one of them appears to be heading toward Earth. According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the cloud will reach Earth on July 7th around 0600 UT. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on that date. Click hereto see an animation from SpaceWeather.com of when the cloud should reach Earth.