AkaSci 🛰️
The aurora forecast for tonight looks almost the same as last night.
The Geomagnetic Kp index is already at 7.67 (G4) and predicted to reach 9 (G5) again in the morning hours. Two sets of CMEs ejected yesterday will pass through earth in the next 12 hours, hopefully lighting up the sky again.
Happy aurora viewing!
Let's keep in mind that the camera catches auroras better than the human eye. So, let's keep 'em clicking and experiment with different exposures.
AkaSci 🛰️
It's now 27 days since Sunspot region 3664 lobbed the CMEs that produced the great aurora show on May 10.
In 27 days, the Sunspot has undergone one full rotation and region 3664, now renamed as 3697, is back in a similar position as May 10. Although the sunspot region is still quite active - it generated an M6.1 flare today, but no CME - it seems to have thankfully lost some of its punch. No major CMEs have been launched during this round.
https://www.spaceweather.gov/
https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/
33/n
AkaSci 🛰️
Sunspot region 3664 goes away with a bang!
As the super-active sunspot region 3664 rotated away to the backside of the Sun, it lobbed 3 more X-Class flares today.
X1.7 - 02:09 UTC
X1.2 - 12:55 UTC
X8.7 - 16:51 UTC, the strongest one of this cycle.
An X8 flare is 8 times more powerful than an X1 and so on.
In modern times, the largest solar flare occurred on 4 Nov 2003 at X45.
The 1859 Carrington Event was estimated at X50.
https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
31/n
AkaSci 🛰️
As sunspot region 3664 rotates away (it lobbed a parting flare at X3.4 at 08:37 UTC), other sunspot regions are rotating into view.
A new sunspot region rotating in from the other side emitted an X2.9 flare today at 14:38 UTC. It will not affect earth much but SWPC will be keeping an eye on such sunspots and flares as they rotate further and line up in the direction of earth.
Note that the Sun has a synodic rotation period of 26.24 days at the equator.
AkaSci 🛰️
34 hours of evolution of the boiling surface of the Sun as seen in images taken by the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory SDO. Sunspot region 3664, which produced the brilliant light show on earth, is rotating away, while other regions are rotating in.
Also, shown is a synoptic map of the Sun identifying sunspot regions.
Note that the Sun has a synodic rotation period of 26.24 days at the equator, almost 38 days at the poles.
https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-synoptic-map
30/n
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