The largest group of sunspots in the last five months is emerging on the visible side of the Sun, according to the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of IKI RAS. Active region 4478 appeared in Earth's view just three days ago, but has already reached an area of 825 m.d.p. — this is the second highest figure in 2026. Only region 4366 in February (1100 m.d.p.), which produced five X-class flares, including the strongest of the year, X8.1, was larger.
So far, the new region shows moderate activity — 11 C-class flares have been recorded in three days. However, almost all notable events in this zone are accompanied by plasma ejections. For now, they do not reach Earth due to the region's limb position.
According to scientists' calculations, the active region will reach the center of the solar disk on July 1. In five days, the group of spots can either disintegrate or reach peak power. Specialists continue to monitor.