THE FUSE

Three days after the Earth-facing side of the Sun showed no numbered sunspots, a newly emerged region near the center of the solar disk is developing the kind of tangled magnetic structure that forecasters associate with stronger flares. EarthSky's daily solar report, updated at 11:09 UTC (7:09 a.m. EDT) on Sept. 21, said sunspot region AR4534 had developed a beta-delta magnetic configuration and produced 9 of the 11 flares recorded over the prior 24 hours.