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Today’s top story: The sun has taken a breather over the past 24 hours, with only minor C-class (common) flares sputtering from a handful of small, magnetically simple sunspot regions. But solar activity from a few days ago could soon bring excitement to Earth. A glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun on June 12 could brush Earth tomorrow, potentially lifting geomagnetic activity to active levels.
Over the past day, solar activity remained at low levels. In total, the sun fired 7 flares: 5 C-class (common) and 2 B-class (weak). No M-class (moderate) or X-class events occurred.
The Earth-facing solar disk shows 4 numbered active regions. All are magnetically simple and relatively inactive.
Available coronagraph imagery showed no Earth-directed coronal mass ejections during the period. But forecasters continue tracking a CME that departed the sun on June 12. It may deliver a glancing blow around June 16–17. A direct hit is not expected. But it could modestly enhance geomagnetic activity upon arrival.
Solar wind speeds reflected the continued but waning influence of a coronal hole high-speed stream. Speeds gradually declined to normal levels over the period. Meanwhile, the total interplanetary magnetic field remained weak.
The Bz component showed no significant southward dips. It remained weak and variable. As a result, Earth’s magnetic shield stayed firmly closed. And aurora activity stayed suppressed.
Over the past day, Earth’s magnetic field stayed quiet (Kp 1–2). No geomagnetic storm conditions occurred.
Forecasters expect low levels to persist through June 17. C-class flares are very likely. And a slight chance (15%) exists for isolated M-class flares. But none of the four currently visible active regions possesses the complex magnetic configurations typically needed for significant eruptions. X-class flares are not expected (1% chance).
We sometimes feature sun images obtained using hydrogen-alpha filters. Read why.
Bottom line: Sun news for June 15, 2026: The sun is taking a breather, but a glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection could disturb Earth’s magnetic field tomorrow.
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