CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot AR1504 has a complex ‘beta-gamma’ magnetic field that harbors energy for strong solar flares–and the huge sunspot is almost directly facing Earth. Amateur astronomer Eric von der Heyden photographed the behemoth on June 16th from his backyard observatory in Mühltal-Traisa, Germany:

Each of the dark cores in the image is about twice the size of Earth. The sheer size of the complex makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% chance of M-flares and a 5% chance of X-flares from AR1504 during the next 24 hours

from:spaceweather.com