The largest group of sunspots in the last 5 months is approaching Earth.

Active region 4478, which appeared in Earth's field of view just three days ago, is rapidly growing and has now reached an area of 825 m.s.p. (a unit of measurement for sunspot area), making it the second-largest active region of the year. Among the approximately 160 sunspot groups recorded since January 1, it is second only to region 4366, observed in the first half of February. This group, with a maximum area of 1100 m.s.p., generated five X-class flares, including the largest flare of the year, an X8.1 flare, on February 2.

Despite its impressive size, the region has so far shown moderate activity. It has only produced 11 flares in three days, all classified as category C (the normal level, above which lie two more powerful categories: M (strong) and X (very strong). On the other hand, the active center clearly falls into the "dangerous" category: almost all significant events here have been accompanied by plasma ejections into space, which have not yet reached Earth only because of the region's strong limbal shift.

According to calculations, the region will reach the center of the solar disk (i.e., a position directly opposite Earth) on July 1, or in five days. For sunspot groups, this is a huge period of time, during which they could either completely disintegrate or, conversely, reach peak activity. We'll see where it ends up.