VIDEO: A solar flare of the highest magnitude occurred on November 4th.

An X-class solar flare occurred on the Sun, observed for the first time after a nearly 5-month hiatus that began in June 2025. The last time a top-level event (X1.9) was recorded was on June 19, 2025.

The source of the flare has now been identified. It is active region 4274, the same one that, about two weeks ago, while located on the far side of the Sun, bombarded the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS with plasma clouds.

The flare lasted about 36 minutes, from 8:15 PM to 8:51 PM Moscow time. The peak emission was reached at 8:34 PM. Incoming images and videos show that the event was accompanied by a rapid ejection of plasma into interplanetary space. According to preliminary measurements, the densest core of the ejection was directed at an angle of about 55 degrees relative to the direction to Earth. Thus, there will definitely be no direct impacts on the planet, and tangential interactions will in any case be greatly mitigated and should not lead to geomagnetic storms above level 3 on a 5-point scale (strong, but not record-breaking events). A mathematical model of plasma motion will be available by morning.

The flare confirms that the active centers currently observed on the Sun are "operating" in the most dangerous mode—accumulating energy for major events. An alternative mode is dissipating energy in numerous small and medium-sized flares. This event was preceded by a particularly long pause in activity, lasting approximately 15 hours, during which the center was apparently accumulating energy. The potential for further solar impacts on Earth will increase daily in the near future. Due to the Sun's rotation, the active centers located on the left edge of the Sun are currently approaching Earth's direction by 13-15 degrees daily, and in four days they will be exactly on the Sun-Earth line, meaning they will be able to produce frontal impacts. However, for now, there is still hope that the energy of the active regions will be exhausted by that time.