The Solar Minimum Active Region 7978, Its X2.6/1B Flare, CME, and Interplanetary Shock Propagation of 9 July 1996

The first X-class flare in four years occurred on 9 July 1996. This X2.6/1B flare reached its maximum at 09:11 UT and was located in active region 7978 (S10° W30°) which was an old-cycle sunspot polarity group. We report the SOHO LASCO/EIT/MDI and SOONSPOT observations before and after this event together with Yohkoh SXT images of the flare, radio observations of the type II shock, and GOES disk-integrated soft X-ray flux during an extended period that included energy build-up in this active region.