An unusually active sunspot region is now crossing the Sun. The region, labelled AR 4366, is much larger than the Earth and has produced several powerful solar flares over the past ten days. In the featured image, the region is marked by large and dark sunspots toward the upper right of the Sun's disk. The image captured the Sun over a hill in Zacatecas, Mexico, 5 days ago. AR 4366 has become a candidate for the most active solar region in this entire 11-year solar cycle. Active solar regions are frequently associated with increased auroral activity on the Earth. Now reaching the edge, AR 4366 will begin facing away from the Earth during the coming week. It is not known, though, if the active region will survive long enough to reappear in about two weeks' time, as the Sun rotates.

Landsat imagery is provided to the public as a joint project between NASA and USGS. A recent industry report on landsat satellite imagery data estimates that total annual value to the economy of $2.19 billion, far exceeding the multi-year total cost of building, launching, and managing Landsat satellites and sensors. The value is derived from consumer use of the data. The objective of this endpoint is to give you an easy to use taste of what Landsat imagery data can provide. There are more complicate APIs available if you want to build models on top of satellite imagery, apply machine-learning, or minimize clouds in your image.