Sun · flares
A Sun that bursts
Flares are sudden releases of magnetic energy above active regions. The flashes in this view recall the classes of the strongest flares in the GOES catalogue (X, M); their positions are illustrative.
Latest catalogued flare
B4.3
Strongest in the catalogue
X28
X-class flares
558
GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC) · U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · 10/25/26
Illustrative rendering: procedural prominence loops and flashes; classes from the GOES catalogue below.
Catalogued flares
94,036
1975 → 2026-10-25
GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC) · U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · 10/25/26
Current · provisional
X-class flares
558
7954 M-class
GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC) · U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · 10/25/26
Current · provisional
Latest catalogued flare
B4.3
2026-10-25 03:33 UTC · AR 14560
GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC) · U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · 10/25/26
Strongest in the catalogue
X28
2003-11-04 18:29 UTC · S19W83
GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC) · U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · 10/25/26
X- and M-class flares per year
GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC) · U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · 10/25/26
Current · provisional
Show the data as a table
C-class flares per year
GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC) · U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · 10/25/26
Current · provisional
Show the data as a table
Ten strongest flares (peak flux derived from the class)
| # | Class | Start (UTC) | Peak | Peak flux (W/m²) | Position | Active region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | X28 | 2003-11-04 18:29 | 18:50 | 3E-3 | S19W83 | 10486 |
| 2 | X20 | 1989-08-15 23:08 | 23:17 | 2E-3 | S18W84 | 5629 |
| 3 | X20 | 2001-04-02 19:32 | 19:51 | 2E-3 | — | — |
| 4 | X17 | 2003-10-28 08:51 | 10:10 | 2E-3 | — | 10486 |
| 5 | X17 | 2005-09-07 15:17 | 15:40 | 2E-3 | S11E77 | 10808 |
| 6 | X15 | 1989-03-06 12:54 | 13:10 | 2E-3 | N35E69 | 5395 |
| 7 | X14 | 2001-04-15 11:19 | 11:50 | 1E-3 | S20W85 | 9415 |
| 8 | X13 | 1984-04-24 21:56 | 22:01 | 1E-3 | S12E43 | 4474 |
| 9 | X13 | 1989-10-19 11:29 | 11:55 | 1E-3 | S27E10 | 5747 |
| 10 | X12 | 1982-06-06 14:30 | 14:54 | 1E-3 | S09E25 | 3763 |
Filterable catalogue
GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC) · U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · 10/25/26
| Start (UTC) | Peak | End | Duration | Class | Peak flux (W/m²) | Position | Active region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-10-20 12:21 | 12:28 | 12:35 | 14 min | M1.8 | 2E-5 | S19W23 | 10160 |
| 2002-10-20 03:01 | 03:14 | 03:19 | 18 min | M1.2 | 1E-5 | S18W18 | 10160 |
| 2002-10-20 01:31 | 01:39 | 02:00 | 29 min | M1.5 | 2E-5 | N26E58 | 10162 |
| 2002-10-19 22:32 | 22:45 | 23:11 | 39 min | M1.8 | 2E-5 | N27E61 | 10162 |
| 2002-10-15 12:08 | 12:22 | 12:37 | 29 min | M1 | 1E-5 | N20W04 | — |
| 2002-10-13 21:42 | 22:10 | 23:08 | 86 min | M2.2 | 2E-5 | — | 10159 |
| 2002-10-05 18:42 | 19:00 | 19:08 | 26 min | M5.9 | 6E-5 | — | 10139 |
| 2002-10-05 08:39 | 08:46 | 08:48 | 9 min | M1.2 | 1E-5 | — | — |
| 2002-10-04 20:32 | 20:43 | 20:51 | 19 min | M2.7 | 3E-5 | — | 10139 |
| 2002-10-04 15:04 | 15:11 | 15:15 | 11 min | M1.2 | 1E-5 | — | 10137 |
| 2002-10-04 10:43 | 10:55 | 11:07 | 24 min | M1.2 | 1E-5 | N08E49 | 10139 |
| 2002-10-04 08:54 | 09:05 | 09:09 | 15 min | M3.5 | 4E-5 | S20W10 | 10137 |
| 2002-10-04 03:34 | 03:38 | 03:41 | 7 min | M4 | 4E-5 | S19W09 | 10137 |
| 2002-10-03 22:39 | 22:43 | 22:53 | 14 min | M1 | 1E-5 | — | 10137 |
| 2002-10-03 00:15 | 00:21 | 00:26 | 11 min | M2.1 | 2E-5 | — | 10137 |
| 2002-09-29 23:42 | 23:50 | 23:54 | 12 min | M2.1 | 2E-5 | — | 10134 |
| 2002-09-29 04:32 | 04:39 | 04:41 | 9 min | M2.6 | 3E-5 | — | 10134 |
| 2002-09-27 17:33 | 17:42 | 17:49 | 16 min | M1.4 | 1E-5 | N13E38 | 10134 |
| 2002-09-27 10:59 | 11:12 | 11:23 | 24 min | M1.8 | 2E-5 | — | 10134 |
| 2002-09-20 07:21 | 07:28 | 07:33 | 12 min | M1.8 | 2E-5 | — | 10126 |
| 2002-09-20 03:08 | 03:12 | 03:17 | 9 min | M1.5 | 2E-5 | S24E75 | 10126 |
| 2002-09-16 01:06 | 01:10 | 01:12 | 6 min | M1.3 | 1E-5 | — | 10114 |
| 2002-09-15 15:29 | 15:38 | 15:45 | 16 min | M1 | 1E-5 | — | 10105 |
| 2002-09-11 05:26 | 05:35 | 05:42 | 16 min | M2.2 | 2E-5 | — | 10105 |
| 2002-09-10 12:49 | 12:56 | 13:00 | 11 min | M2.9 | 3E-5 | — | 10105 |
| 2002-09-09 15:40 | 15:52 | 16:01 | 21 min | M2.1 | 2E-5 | S09E54 | 10105 |
| 2002-09-07 23:35 | 23:43 | 23:53 | 18 min | M1.5 | 2E-5 | — | 10105 |
| 2002-09-02 22:21 | 22:54 | 23:01 | 40 min | M1 | 1E-5 | — | — |
| 2002-08-30 10:47 | 11:29 | 11:35 | 48 min | X1.5 | 2E-4 | N15E74 | 10095 |
| 2002-08-29 10:42 | 10:52 | 10:56 | 14 min | M3.2 | 3E-5 | — | 10095 |
| 2002-08-29 02:56 | 03:06 | 03:26 | 30 min | M1.8 | 2E-5 | — | — |
| 2002-08-29 00:45 | 00:53 | 01:02 | 17 min | M1.6 | 2E-5 | — | — |
| 2002-08-28 19:38 | 19:45 | 19:49 | 11 min | M1.1 | 1E-5 | — | — |
| 2002-08-28 16:52 | 16:59 | 17:06 | 14 min | M4.6 | 5E-5 | — | — |
| 2002-08-28 14:45 | 14:58 | 15:09 | 24 min | M1.3 | 1E-5 | — | 10083 |
| 2002-08-25 22:39 | 23:03 | 23:25 | 46 min | M1.8 | 2E-5 | S19W45 | 10083 |
| 2002-08-25 21:38 | 21:46 | 21:53 | 15 min | M1.9 | 2E-5 | — | 10083 |
| 2002-08-25 16:45 | 16:53 | 16:58 | 13 min | M1.1 | 1E-5 | — | 10083 |
| 2002-08-24 09:12 | 09:28 | 09:41 | 29 min | M1.5 | 2E-5 | — | — |
| 2002-08-24 03:38 | 03:48 | 03:59 | 21 min | M1.8 | 2E-5 | S09E52 | 10087 |
| 2002-08-23 22:49 | 23:12 | 23:31 | 42 min | X3.1 | 3E-4 | — | 10069 |
| 2002-08-23 18:09 | 18:21 | 19:28 | 79 min | M1.4 | 1E-5 | — | 10083 |
| 2002-08-23 11:05 | 11:14 | 11:24 | 19 min | M1.5 | 2E-5 | — | 10087 |
| 2002-08-23 09:56 | 10:00 | 10:10 | 14 min | M1.2 | 1E-5 | — | 10069 |
| 2002-08-23 06:00 | 07:46 | 08:14 | 134 min | M1.5 | 2E-5 | S07W74 | 10069 |
| 2002-08-23 03:31 | 03:49 | 03:54 | 23 min | M1.7 | 2E-5 | S04E22 | 10085 |
| 2002-08-22 15:39 | 16:02 | 16:15 | 36 min | M1.2 | 1E-5 | S05E76 | 10087 |
| 2002-08-21 23:47 | 23:57 | 00:05 | 18 min | M5.4 | 5E-5 | — | 10069 |
| 2002-08-21 03:28 | 03:34 | 03:36 | 8 min | X1 | 1E-4 | S12W51 | 10069 |
| 2002-08-20 23:35 | 23:41 | 23:45 | 10 min | M1.4 | 1E-5 | — | 10069 |
Method and sources
The catalogue reproduces the NOAA (SWPC/NGDC) GOES event lists compiled yearly by the NASA GSFC Hesperia centre: start, peak and end (UT), class, heliographic position and active region when known. The class encodes the peak flux in the 0.1–0.8 nm band: C = 10⁻⁶ W/m², M = 10⁻⁵, X = 10⁻⁴, times the number (M2.3 = 2.3 × 10⁻⁵ W/m²).
Lines without an X-ray class (optical or sub-threshold events) are not imported. The last two years are re-read on each import; duplicates are rejected by start time and class. Yearly counts are computed from the imported catalogue.
Reading these data
Until December 2019 NOAA applied a 0.7 factor to the XRS-B flux of GOES 8 to 15; since GOES-16 became the primary satellite the raw flux is used. For the same physical flux, a class after 2020 is therefore about 1.4 times higher (Janssens et al., 2025). Counts before and after 2020 are not directly comparable.
SOURCES OF THIS PAGE
- GOES X-ray flare lists (NOAA SWPC/NGDC events, yearly compilations by NASA GSFC)
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NOAA SWPC/NGDC GOES X-ray flare event lists (1975–), yearly compilations by K. Tolbert, NASA GSFC Hesperia. Flare classes as reported by NOAA at the time: until December 2019 the XRS-B flux carried a 0.7 scaling factor (Janssens et al., 2025).
· source page ↗
Licence : U.S. Government work, public domain (NOAA/NASA) · retrieved on Oct 25, 2026 · SHA-256 a1d99f7354e3… - Janssens (2025)
-
Janssens, J., et al. (2025). Solar flare rates and probabilities based on the McIntosh classification: impacts of GOES/XRS rescaling and recalibration. Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate.
· doi:10.1051/swsc/2025007
Licence : Published literature; cited