September 25 sun activity: Giant erupting prominence
Today’s top news: Sun activity today is low at sunspot regions, giving the filaments, prominences, and coronal holes a chance to shine. A giant prominence erupted off the southeast limb (edge) of the sun’s disk. More of its extent was captured with the NOAA GOES SUVI imager because of the wider field of view compared to SDO. Two large coronal holes have appeared on the sun, one on the south pole and one at the east limb (edge). The one at the south pole will probably not have much impact on Earth. The other one (if it persists) will eventually rotate to a position on the west where its high-speed solar wind can impact Earth, possibly creating auroral displays.
Last 24 hours: Solar activity is low with only C flares. AR3107 and AR3110 produced most of the 20 observed C flares. The largest flares were a C7.2 from AR3107 at 16:07 UTC and a C7.2 from AR3110 at 17:19 UTC on September 24. There are six labeled sunspot active regions on the solar disk now. AR31057 and AR3110 both have grown in complexity and size.
Next 24 hours: The forecast is for a 99% chance for C flares, 35% chance for M flares and 5% chance for X flares.
Next expected CME: No Earth-directed CMEs are detected on available coronagraph imagery.
Current geomagnetic activity: Unsettled to active. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected September 26-27, due to high speed solar wind from a coronal hole.
September 24 sun activity: M flare from newcomer AR3110
Before we had a chance to say hello … newcomer sunspot region AR3110 salutes us with an M class blast. Shortly after it was numbered yesterday, this new sunspot region slammed back with a long-lasting M1.73 flare beginning at 17:48 UTC on September 23, 2022. The eruption came along with a huge and beautiful prominence the size of several Earths. On the opposite limb (edge) of the solar circle, sunspot active region AR3102 blasted out a three-in-one prominence. It looked like a notorious prolonged prominence coming from an unstable filament. But the registers say it was from AR3102. The record shows three flares and one prominence, C4.8 at 13:18 UTC, C5.7 at 14:26 UTC, and C3.7 at 17:11 UTC, all on September 23, 2022. A Type II radio blackout happened at 14:47 UTC over South America and the Atlantic Ocean. And a Type IV radio blackout happened at 18:10 UTC on the Pacific Ocean over the Galapagos Islands, west of the South American shore near the equator. CMEs produced during these events are not heading toward Earth, being too close to the sun’s visible edges. Regions AR3107, AR3109, and AR3110 all exhibited growth. Sun activity is perking up (we hope)!
September 23 sun activity: Low, with lots of C flares
Today’s top news: Sun activity is low, with only C class flaring over the past day. AR3105 produced some of these flares. Meanwhile, a newcomer sunspot – now numbered AR3109 – slowly emerged close to the center of the solar disk, and grew in size and magnetic complexity, and also began producing C flares. As these two flaring regions on the sun were popping, our sun maintained its slow rotation, spinning ever-westward. The sun’s rotation carried the flaring regions – plus two large coronal holes – westward. They are becoming geoeffective, that is, capable of disturbing Earth’s magnetic field. And that’s why a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm is expected. Alert for aurora-chasers!
Last 24 hours: There were more than 23 C-class flares in the past day. The largest was a C7.9 class flare from AR3105 which occurred at 11:23 UTC on September 22, 2022. Today, the sun bears six labeled sunspot active regions.
Next 24 hours: The forecast is for a 99% chance for C flares, 30% chance for M flares and 5% chance for X flares.
Next expected CME: No Earth-directed CMEs are detected on available coronagraph imagery.
Current geomagnetic activity: Quiet for now. But activity is expected to rise to unsettled, due to high speed solar wind from a coronal hole. A G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm is predicted for September 23.
September 22 sun activity: A fiery southeast, and a sun-diving comet
Happy equinox, everyone! The sun itself appears to be celebrating by welcoming a new sunspot region on its southeast limb (edge). The new region is labeled AR3107. It’s southeast of AR3105. An earlier region, AR3106, has decayed. But there is a third sunspot region that has just emerged, east of AR3105. It is now numbered AR3108. And there’s a new coronal hole in this region (in addition to the large trans-equatorial [equator-crossing] coronal hole we talked about earlier this week). The new coronal hole has emerged, also in the sun’s southeast, in the past 24 hours. All this on the southeast solar quadrant makes it look fiery and promising. In other news … Sun-observing spacecraft caught a sun-diving comet late yesterday. The doomed comet was likely a Kreutz sungrazer, believed to be fragments of one large comet that broke up several centuries ago. A swarm of fragments of this broken comet orbits closely to the sun. It’s thought that – about once a day – a tiny comet fragment, some only a few meters across, dives into the sun and disintegrates. But occasionally a bigger one dives sunward, and one of our spacecraft catches it. See the video below, in the tweet from Keith Strong.
SUN DIVING COMET DESTRYED: A tiny comet dove towards the Sun from about 4 o’clock in this coronagraph picture. It does not make it to the Sun. It is ionized even before it enters the inner field of LASCO. It is likely a member of the Kreutz sun-grazing family of comets. pic.twitter.com/0zJ4hIkLGo
— Keith Strong (@drkstrong) September 22, 2022
Happy September Equinox! Fall for the Northern Hemisphere and Spring for the Southern Hemisphere begins Friday, September 23, 2022, at 01:03 UTC • 01:33 GMT; Thursday, September 22, 2022, • 9:03 p.m. EDT • 6:03 p.m. PDT.https://t.co/hOpjcLPGmI pic.twitter.com/WaFpUMpfT4
— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) September 21, 2022
September 21 sun activity: 3 regions to watch on sun’s limb
AR3105 is now in view in the sun’s southeast, as mentioned yesterday. And now a new sunspot region southwest of AR3105 has developed. Originally thought to be part of AR3105, it’s now seen as separate and is numbered 3106. Another region (unnumbered) just southeast of AR3105 is also coming into view. Together, these three regions show promise for activity to come. Is this complex magnetic area building up to give us some surprise flaring? We’ll see. Meanwhile, on another part of the sun, AR3102 continues its flaring as it moves towards the sun’s southwest limb. More about that below. And the large trans-equatorial (equator-spinning) coronal hole we’ve been watching has also shifted westward. It’s geoeffective now: In a position to cause magnetic field disturbances on Earth, due to its high-speed solar wind. Thus, NOAA is forecasting a possible G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm. Alert for aurora-chasers!
September 20 sun activity: AR3105 is here!
Today’s top news: The sun’s rotation has now carried the active region formerly known as AR3089 into view. Active regions are given new labels each time they appear on the Earth-facing solar disk. And so we now have the new label AR3105 for this region. During its last visit, the region produced 75 C flares and five M flares. And the region’s size and magnetic complexity continue to look quite interesting. So far, LASCO C2 has detected a CME on the east limb (edge). Imagery shows it was first visible at 01:36 UTC on September 19 and it is believed to be associated with a C6.5 flare from AR3105. It is not Earth-directed. But any future CMEs could be, once AR3105 is carried by the sun’s rotation to a spot more central on the Earth-facing disk of the sun. This region – combined with the large equator-crossing coronal hole located at disk center – could duplicate the great auroral display from a couple of weeks ago. Will this happen? We will have to wait and see.
The region formally known as AR3089 is already making its presence known from just over the southeast limb. Descent-sized C flares are probably larger in size given their occultation by the Sun. ?????? pic.twitter.com/EzVQVm5Aso
— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) September 19, 2022
September 19 sun activity: Waiting …
Sun activity has dropped to low since AR3098 departed the Earth-facing side of the sun. But the region we knew as AR3089 (when it was on our side of the sun) is about to rotate back into view, and signs of its activity are already apparent (see animated gif above). We’ve seen seven flares on the sun’s southeast limb (edge), where this region sits just outside of view. A promising display! And now sun-watchers are waiting to see what else this region will bring. By the way, the largest flare observed from the region was a C6.5, but, given that the active region itself is partly occulted (blocked) by the sun’s limb (edge), it and the other flares are probably larger. This new region will come fully into view over the next day or so.
To our readers and community
We invite you all to send us your beautiful recent photos of sunspots and auroras. We love receiving your photos! To those of you who’ve already posted a photo to our community, thank you.
Bottom line: September 25, 2022, sun activity was low with only C flares. Two coronal holes appeared on the sun and a giant prominence erupted on the southeast limb (edge).
Looking for last week’s sun activity? Click here.
The post Sun activity: Week of September 19, 2022 first appeared on EarthSky.
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September 25 sun activity: Giant erupting prominence
Today’s top news: Sun activity today is low at sunspot regions, giving the filaments, prominences, and coronal holes a chance to shine. A giant prominence erupted off the southeast limb (edge) of the sun’s disk. More of its extent was captured with the NOAA GOES SUVI imager because of the wider field of view compared to SDO. Two large coronal holes have appeared on the sun, one on the south pole and one at the east limb (edge). The one at the south pole will probably not have much impact on Earth. The other one (if it persists) will eventually rotate to a position on the west where its high-speed solar wind can impact Earth, possibly creating auroral displays.
Last 24 hours: Solar activity is low with only C flares. AR3107 and AR3110 produced most of the 20 observed C flares. The largest flares were a C7.2 from AR3107 at 16:07 UTC and a C7.2 from AR3110 at 17:19 UTC on September 24. There are six labeled sunspot active regions on the solar disk now. AR31057 and AR3110 both have grown in complexity and size.
Next 24 hours: The forecast is for a 99% chance for C flares, 35% chance for M flares and 5% chance for X flares.
Next expected CME: No Earth-directed CMEs are detected on available coronagraph imagery.
Current geomagnetic activity: Unsettled to active. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected September 26-27, due to high speed solar wind from a coronal hole.
September 24 sun activity: M flare from newcomer AR3110
Before we had a chance to say hello … newcomer sunspot region AR3110 salutes us with an M class blast. Shortly after it was numbered yesterday, this new sunspot region slammed back with a long-lasting M1.73 flare beginning at 17:48 UTC on September 23, 2022. The eruption came along with a huge and beautiful prominence the size of several Earths. On the opposite limb (edge) of the solar circle, sunspot active region AR3102 blasted out a three-in-one prominence. It looked like a notorious prolonged prominence coming from an unstable filament. But the registers say it was from AR3102. The record shows three flares and one prominence, C4.8 at 13:18 UTC, C5.7 at 14:26 UTC, and C3.7 at 17:11 UTC, all on September 23, 2022. A Type II radio blackout happened at 14:47 UTC over South America and the Atlantic Ocean. And a Type IV radio blackout happened at 18:10 UTC on the Pacific Ocean over the Galapagos Islands, west of the South American shore near the equator. CMEs produced during these events are not heading toward Earth, being too close to the sun’s visible edges. Regions AR3107, AR3109, and AR3110 all exhibited growth. Sun activity is perking up (we hope)!
September 23 sun activity: Low, with lots of C flares
Today’s top news: Sun activity is low, with only C class flaring over the past day. AR3105 produced some of these flares. Meanwhile, a newcomer sunspot – now numbered AR3109 – slowly emerged close to the center of the solar disk, and grew in size and magnetic complexity, and also began producing C flares. As these two flaring regions on the sun were popping, our sun maintained its slow rotation, spinning ever-westward. The sun’s rotation carried the flaring regions – plus two large coronal holes – westward. They are becoming geoeffective, that is, capable of disturbing Earth’s magnetic field. And that’s why a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm is expected. Alert for aurora-chasers!
Last 24 hours: There were more than 23 C-class flares in the past day. The largest was a C7.9 class flare from AR3105 which occurred at 11:23 UTC on September 22, 2022. Today, the sun bears six labeled sunspot active regions.
Next 24 hours: The forecast is for a 99% chance for C flares, 30% chance for M flares and 5% chance for X flares.
Next expected CME: No Earth-directed CMEs are detected on available coronagraph imagery.
Current geomagnetic activity: Quiet for now. But activity is expected to rise to unsettled, due to high speed solar wind from a coronal hole. A G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm is predicted for September 23.
September 22 sun activity: A fiery southeast, and a sun-diving comet
Happy equinox, everyone! The sun itself appears to be celebrating by welcoming a new sunspot region on its southeast limb (edge). The new region is labeled AR3107. It’s southeast of AR3105. An earlier region, AR3106, has decayed. But there is a third sunspot region that has just emerged, east of AR3105. It is now numbered AR3108. And there’s a new coronal hole in this region (in addition to the large trans-equatorial [equator-crossing] coronal hole we talked about earlier this week). The new coronal hole has emerged, also in the sun’s southeast, in the past 24 hours. All this on the southeast solar quadrant makes it look fiery and promising. In other news … Sun-observing spacecraft caught a sun-diving comet late yesterday. The doomed comet was likely a Kreutz sungrazer, believed to be fragments of one large comet that broke up several centuries ago. A swarm of fragments of this broken comet orbits closely to the sun. It’s thought that – about once a day – a tiny comet fragment, some only a few meters across, dives into the sun and disintegrates. But occasionally a bigger one dives sunward, and one of our spacecraft catches it. See the video below, in the tweet from Keith Strong.
SUN DIVING COMET DESTRYED: A tiny comet dove towards the Sun from about 4 o’clock in this coronagraph picture. It does not make it to the Sun. It is ionized even before it enters the inner field of LASCO. It is likely a member of the Kreutz sun-grazing family of comets. pic.twitter.com/0zJ4hIkLGo
— Keith Strong (@drkstrong) September 22, 2022
Happy September Equinox! Fall for the Northern Hemisphere and Spring for the Southern Hemisphere begins Friday, September 23, 2022, at 01:03 UTC • 01:33 GMT; Thursday, September 22, 2022, • 9:03 p.m. EDT • 6:03 p.m. PDT.https://t.co/hOpjcLPGmI pic.twitter.com/WaFpUMpfT4
— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) September 21, 2022
September 21 sun activity: 3 regions to watch on sun’s limb
AR3105 is now in view in the sun’s southeast, as mentioned yesterday. And now a new sunspot region southwest of AR3105 has developed. Originally thought to be part of AR3105, it’s now seen as separate and is numbered 3106. Another region (unnumbered) just southeast of AR3105 is also coming into view. Together, these three regions show promise for activity to come. Is this complex magnetic area building up to give us some surprise flaring? We’ll see. Meanwhile, on another part of the sun, AR3102 continues its flaring as it moves towards the sun’s southwest limb. More about that below. And the large trans-equatorial (equator-spinning) coronal hole we’ve been watching has also shifted westward. It’s geoeffective now: In a position to cause magnetic field disturbances on Earth, due to its high-speed solar wind. Thus, NOAA is forecasting a possible G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm. Alert for aurora-chasers!
September 20 sun activity: AR3105 is here!
Today’s top news: The sun’s rotation has now carried the active region formerly known as AR3089 into view. Active regions are given new labels each time they appear on the Earth-facing solar disk. And so we now have the new label AR3105 for this region. During its last visit, the region produced 75 C flares and five M flares. And the region’s size and magnetic complexity continue to look quite interesting. So far, LASCO C2 has detected a CME on the east limb (edge). Imagery shows it was first visible at 01:36 UTC on September 19 and it is believed to be associated with a C6.5 flare from AR3105. It is not Earth-directed. But any future CMEs could be, once AR3105 is carried by the sun’s rotation to a spot more central on the Earth-facing disk of the sun. This region – combined with the large equator-crossing coronal hole located at disk center – could duplicate the great auroral display from a couple of weeks ago. Will this happen? We will have to wait and see.
The region formally known as AR3089 is already making its presence known from just over the southeast limb. Descent-sized C flares are probably larger in size given their occultation by the Sun. ?????? pic.twitter.com/EzVQVm5Aso
— Dr. C. Alex Young (@TheSunToday) September 19, 2022
September 19 sun activity: Waiting …
Sun activity has dropped to low since AR3098 departed the Earth-facing side of the sun. But the region we knew as AR3089 (when it was on our side of the sun) is about to rotate back into view, and signs of its activity are already apparent (see animated gif above). We’ve seen seven flares on the sun’s southeast limb (edge), where this region sits just outside of view. A promising display! And now sun-watchers are waiting to see what else this region will bring. By the way, the largest flare observed from the region was a C6.5, but, given that the active region itself is partly occulted (blocked) by the sun’s limb (edge), it and the other flares are probably larger. This new region will come fully into view over the next day or so.
To our readers and community
We invite you all to send us your beautiful recent photos of sunspots and auroras. We love receiving your photos! To those of you who’ve already posted a photo to our community, thank you.
Bottom line: September 25, 2022, sun activity was low with only C flares. Two coronal holes appeared on the sun and a giant prominence erupted on the southeast limb (edge).
Looking for last week’s sun activity? Click here.
The post Sun activity: Week of September 19, 2022 first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/tETRsF4
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