Solar Facts and Space Weather
21:21 UT (5/23/2013) - Proton levels the eruption are still at the S2 NOAA alert level, down from S3. The particles are very apparent in SOHO/LASCO C2, showing up as “snow” on the images. 1:17 UT (5/23/2013) – Currently, a S2 level (scale of 1-5) proton is in effect as a result of the eruption. 19:20 [...]
Wiggly Jiggly Loops by 4 flares from an evolving sunspot AR11748 showed us some exciting yet basically benign activity. A little image processing helps us really see certain aspects of the activity. Keep an eye out for wiggling loops set in motion by the eruptions (from the X flares – all 4 are in the [...]
A new active region peaking around the edge of the sun released an X-class solar flare At 2:17 UT or 10:17 pm EDT, an active region that has not yet rotated into view produced an X1.7 solar flare on May 13, 2013 (UT). This is the first X-flare of the year. The flare producing eruption [...]
A total eclipse of the Sun will be visible on November 13/14, 2012 in a narrow path across the southern hemisphere. The Moon’s umbral shadow starts in northern Australia following a path across the South Pacific Ocean without crossing any other land. A partial eclipse produced by the shadow covers a much larger area [...]
An M1.7 flare peaked at 02:23 UT, November 8, 2012. This is not really a big flare but everybody’s attention picks up when the activity level reached M-class (mine included). I don’t yet know where the event came from (waiting for more data) but I think it came from the new region open [...]
Possible Moderate to Severe Geomagnetic Storm Sunspot group, AR11520, produced an X1.4 solar flare, peaking in the NOAA GOES X-ray monitor at 16:52 UT (12:52 EDT). This flash of electromagnetic radiation temporarily altered the upper atmosphere changing its ability to reflect and transmit certain radio frequencies. This produced a radio blackout lasting around 1 hour. [...]
4 M-class Flares and More A new active region (AR11476) has been rotating into view during the beginning of May 2012. It has been producing CMEs and by May 5th it started releasing small M-class flares and lots of C-class flares. Between May 5-6, it produced 4 M1 flares. The video below shows the 4 [...]
At 17:40 UT, the Sun produced a C2 solar flare with a radio burst and a SCORE-C CME. NASA Goddard Space Weather Center predicts it will reach Earth 4/27/2012 at 5:49 UT with only minor impact. Currently, there is a small geomagnetic storm underway so those at high latitudes have a chance for Aurorae.
On March 12, 2012 Sunsflare posted a video asking if anyone could identify a circular object seen in SDO coronal images. The video was also posted on Facebook with the same question posed. I answered the question on facebook but here is a more detailed response and discussion of the observation. The object seen is [...]
Sungrazing comet seen for the first time with the SOHO/SWAN instrument. It is aptly named Comet SWAN. Ukrainian Amateur astronomer, citizen scientist, and SOHO Comet Hunter Vladimir Bezugly reported a bright blob on images taken by the SWAN instrument on SOHO. This turned out to be a type of sungrazing comet called a Kreutz Comet [...]
