Is 90/0656 almost dead?

Catania sunspot group 06 (NOAA 0667) is just an old acquaintance, formerly known as 90/0656. Last rotation, the group was so big you could see it on the solar disk with the naked eye. The pictures beneath show what is left of the group.
    
Sunspot group 90 (NOAA 0656) produced in total 2 X-class flares. An X1.0 flare on August 13 was reported to come from this region. Just before turning over the west limb, the group produced an X1.8 flare on August 18. In the period from August 6 when it first appeared on the east limb, until August 10, the spot grew from a simple "alpha" configuration to a "beta-gamma-delta" active region with a complex magnetic configuration. Nowadays, the group made its first re-appearance on the east limb as sunspot group 06 (NOAA 0667). So far, a large leader spot and a few small spots are visible. Its looks so far reveal only an "alpha" label, less glorious and impressive as the former "beta-gamma-delta" configuration. The global x-ray background emission, as measured by the satellite GOES, remains low at around the B1 level. Up till now, the sunspot group did not release any noticeable flare. Both facts indicate that the group has decayed significantly compared to its previous rotation.

 

 


The figures above show us group 90 (NOAA 0656), located in the center of the solar disk, in its glory days, one rotation ago. Both pictures are captured by the telescope MDI on board the SOHO-satellite. The picture on the left shows us the Sun in visible light, just as we see the Sun, but with a much better resolution. The picture on the right is a magnetogram, an artificial picture made by humans to show the concentration of magnetic fields.

 

 

The figure above shows the same group, now with number 06 (NOAA 0669) and located at the east limb, in a less impressive outfit. We see a nice leading spot with 2 tiny following spots.

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