Sunspot region AR 4518

Sunspot AR 4518 is a small, magnetically simple active region visible on the Sun. It contains 2 spots and covers 10 millionths of the solar hemisphere. This region has produced 1 C-class flares. Current flare probabilities are C 5%, M 1% and X 1%. Its heliographic latitude is N8°, Earth-facing longitude -51° and Carrington longitude 355°.

Sunspot location on the solar map

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Selected map type: AIA 171 Å

Sunspot properties

Region number	4518
First observed	26 August 2026 at 07:04
Sunspot type	Axx
Magnetic class	A
Area	10 MSH
Spot count	2
Heliographic extent	1 degrees
Latitude	8°
Longitude	-51°
Carrington longitude	355
Status	f

Flare activity

Flare class	Begin time (UTC)	Peak time (UTC)	End time (UTC)	Location	Duration
C3.4	2026-08-26 12:29	2026-08-26 12:40	2026-08-26 12:45	N07E45	11 minutes

Sunspot evolution

These graphs show how the region’s area and visible spot count changed over time.

Area

Area is measured in millionths of the solar hemisphere (MSH); growth can indicate increasing magnetic complexity.

Spot count

The spot count records the visible spots in the region at each observation.

Detailed history

Date	Area (MSH)	Spot count	Classification	flares	Location
2026-09-02	10	2	Axx	-	N08W51
2026-08-31	20	6	Cro	-	N07W24
2026-08-30	20	6	Cro	-	N06W09
2026-08-29	10	3	Bxo	-	N08E06
2026-08-28	20	7	Cro	-	N08E19
2026-08-27	10	5	Bxo	-	N07E30
2026-08-26	30	5	Cri	C3.4, 12:29-12:45	N07E43

Acknowledgments

We thank the teams behind the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), including the HMI, AIA and EVE teams, for continuous solar monitoring.

We also thank National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for supporting solar science and public data access.

Additional event data are provided by NASA’s DONKI (Database of Notifications, Knowledge, Information), with records of flares, CMEs and geomagnetic storms.

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