The video shows a rather spectacular solar event that occurred overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday. The flare took place on the far side of the Sun and was classified as an M5 event (approximately 50% of the intensity of the strongest X-class flares). Its magnitude is known because the flare was detected at the moment of its formation by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which is currently positioned on the side of the Sun opposite Earth. The associated sunspot group will rotate into view from Earth's perspective in 3–4 days, but it is already breaking apart. This explosion marks the death, rather than the birth, of an active region.

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Laboratory of Solar Astronomy, SRI RAS

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