Leaderboard

We have come very close to a spotless sun three times already this year. See graph below. Also solar activity reported to be low to very low week in week out on solar cycle 24.com (solar ham.com) with only B and low level C flares taking place.The solar flux which gives a better guide to how active solar activity is has since early February been mostly around the 100-120 range with it dipping recently down to below a 100 although a recent spike has seen it up to the 170 range before dipping again as you will see from the graph.

Solar activity continues at low levels even very low levels at times with just the occasional spike in activity. I would not be surprised to see a blank sun at some point later in the year. As far as solar max is concerned I think we will see another three or four spikes and that will be it for cycle 24. Pure conjecture of course but the sun is no where near as active as it should be so close to max so who knows.

Some stunning video from the last few days of geomagnetic storms. http://player.vimeo.com/video/41065458 Brilliant soundtrack too.

Same here again Shuggee, just to cloudy. GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Earth is passing through the wake of a CME, and this is causing geomagnetic storms at high latitudes. Last night, auroras were spotted in more than a dozen US states including Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, and Colorado. Here is what the sky looked like over Grand Portage, Minnesota: "The auroras were incredible!" says photographer Travis Novitsky. Europeans witnessed a good show, too: "My girlfriend and I were on the Co. Antrim coast of Northern Ireland, and the auroras we saw were sublime!" reports Martin McKenna. "It's the best I've seen here since 2005, with vertical green pillars of light some 60 degrees high accompanied by amazing pulsating motions like the beating of a heart. We could even see the beams reflecting on the ocean forming their own glitter paths - what a night!" The storm is subsiding now. Nevertheless, high-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras as a fast solar wind stream continues to buffet Earth's magnetic field. http://www.spaceweather.com/ Jon Cooper Image taken: Apr. 24, 2012 Location: Hardendale, near Shap, Cumbria, United Kingdom Details: The cloud eventually cleared to give me part two of tonight's aurora. The stratus just made the sky look bigger with the aurora behind it. Fairly faint to the naked eye, but the pillars of light were often very easy to see - they just kept coming. Pentax K-r iso 3200 20s 18mm Paul Kerr Image taken: Apr. 23, 2012 Location: Ballyliffin Co. Donegal, Ireland Details: Paul Kerr and Mark Doherty Taken with a canon 500d 50 seconds @f3.5 iso 800 around 10.30 the auroras really picked up. we could see pillars of white light http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuqvvBKf1Rg http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=maDXw2oKhNs http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsCF_Y61UTI