Two moderate (M-class) solar flares on the Sun today, showing a beautiful example of ‘flare loop arcades’. These are bright ‘slinky-like’ arches of plasma, formed as the solar flare reconfigures magnetic fields within the Sun’s atmosphere!

Gracefully carving through the solar corona, a mini eruption of filament plasma erupted from the Sun earlier today! Beautiful.

The entirety of November 2025 on the Sun! Despite strong solar flares and severe geomagnetic storms, last month saw a low sunspot count – with the second lowest monthly total since November 2022 (with half of the sunspots present in July/August 2024).

A closer look at the coronal mass ejection produced by last night’s major solar flare. Some models are predicting that the eruption may have a minor Earth-directed component! #spaceweather

Physics in action: a truly mesmerising #SolarFlare on the Sun last night, from the same region that produced strong flares and triggered widespread aurora back in mid-November. The flare gives a hypnotic example of how plasma and magnetic fields interact in the Sun’s atmosphere.

A busy active region on the Sun is currently rotating into Earth's view, producing two moderate solar flares as it arrives over the solar horizon. (This region was previously visible two weeks ago, where it produced a number of strong flares!) #spaceweather

Solar energetic particles are high energy electrons and protons released by the Sun, primarily during solar flares. These particles travel very close to the speed of light, arriving to Earth just a few minutes after the solar flare is first detected. (Pictured as fuzzy dots here)

A pair of beautiful eruptions of filament plasma from the Sun’s north and south poles, happening near simultaneously. This movie, captured by GOES/SUVI, spans eight hours! #astronomy

Yesterday I worked with the University of Colorado Boulder's media team to film a reel for the Associated Press about the science of the northern lights.

I edited some clips into a short video for my own YouTube channel, so check it out if you're interested!

Full video: youtu.be/pNuX7o63ELg?...

Here is a view of today’s eruption from the Sun, currently en route to Earth. You can see a full ‘halo’ in the data, indicating the plasma is coming our way. You can also see the ‘fuzzy snow’ in the images, caused by particles from the solar flare hitting the camera!

The Sun just produced an X5.1 class #SolarFlare. This is the largest flare of 2025 so far, and 6th largest of the past two years. It triggered a strong ‘Radio Blackout’ and moderate ‘Solar Radiation Storm’ at Earth, and released what is most likely an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection!