Solar Facts and Space Weather
Sunspot group or active region AR11429 has almost rotated out of view but it still had enough energy to release an M7.9 X-ray solar flare, a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) and a solar energetic particle event (SEP). A geomagnetic storm due to a glancing blow from the CME is expected early March 15, [...]
CMEs are on their way to us! Estimated impact is March 11, 2012 around 2-3 PM EDT. High latitude aurora watchers keep lookout the night of March 11, 2012. On March 10, 2012, the sun produced 1 C-class flare and 2 M-class flares along with 2 Earth directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The [...]
Nature never ceases to surprise and amaze. Just when it looked like the geomagnetic storm from yesterdays CME impacts had fizzled out, Earth’s magnetosphere continues its upset state. Even before the Kp index (a measure of the disturbed state of Earth’s magnetic field) reached its current value amazing aurora were seen in [...]
Sunspot group, AR11429 (Active Region), is at it again. When it first began its journey across the Earthward side of the Sun it released an M-class flare, an X-class flare and several more M flares, along with several CMEs. Early on March 7, 2012 (00:24 UT) it erupted with an X5.4 flare, a coronal wave [...]
Sunspot group, AR11429, started off its journey across the Earth facing side of the Sun with several bangs. First it produced an M flare on March 2 at 17:29 UT (with a CME) then came another M flare (with a CME) at 10:29 on March 4 followed and X flare with CME early on March [...]
Sunspot group AR11429! Here is a look at AR11429 from Friday to today showing the 2 M-class and 1 X-class flare blasting away from the Sun. In addition to those events and their associated CMEs there is a lot of activity from the active region and the area surrounding it. This video is a composite [...]
Ten years ago yesterday (5 February 2002) saw the launch of the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI (pronounced reh-see). RHESSI was designed to study particle acceleration and energy transport during solar flares by observing the highest energy X-rays and gamma-rays. These X-rays and gamma-rays are produced when particles (electrons and protons) are [...]
Sunspot group AR11339 (AR stands for Active Region) has just rotated onto the Earth facing disk of the Sun. Before coming completely into view the region had produced two M flares in 24 hours (an M4.3 flare on 2-Nov-2011 at 21:52 UT and an M2.5 flare on 3-Nov-2011 at 10:58 UT). Here [...]
Saturday, October 22, 2011, started like most any other day, lots of activity of varying size and shape was occurring on the Sun. Most people looking at the Sun that day remember the spectacular lightbulb shaped CME that occurred from just behind the Northwest limb. Here is the eruption and flare. and the resulting [...]
A spectacular filament eruption from June 7, 2011 captured by the STEREO Ahead spacecraft with EUVI 304, Cor1 and Cor2. Happy Birthday STEREO!! October 26 ,2011 is the 5th anniversary of the launch of the STEREO mission and its 2 spacecraft. The STEREO Mission (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) was launched at 1:52 am [...]
