Solar and Aurora Activity Chat

[Mondy]

Won't last long. Been the case when these "prototype spots" form. A quick appearance and then vanish again.

[LadyPakal]

It'll vanish round the corner anyway before too long, if it lasts long enough. Recently tho' these things have only tended to last a few hours.

[karyo]

The sunspot is fading away already: http://spaceweather.com/

Quiteness resumes.

Karyo

[Guest North Sea Snow Convection]

The sunspot is fading away already: http://spaceweather.com/

Quiteness resumes.

Karyo

yay!!

[toggerob]

Is it a dead pixel or is there another sunspot just to the bottom right of the Suns centre? about the same size as this new one thats on the upper Right corner.

[karyo]

Is it a dead pixel or is there another sunspot just to the bottom right of the Suns centre? about the same size as this new one thats on the upper Right corner.

Nothing is mentioned in the website so i assume it's not a sunspot.

Karyo

[toggerob]

Nothing is mentioned in the website so i assume it's not a sunspot.

Karyo

Yep your right, just got a reply from SOHO saying the artefact is just a dead pixel, I searched the movie archive for the past 24 hour images and sure enough its dead-centre as the sun is still rotating.

At least I managed to get the Solar Scope out for 10 minutes in the garden (even if I was practially looking at nothing there lol.)

[frogesque]

Nice flare just popped off! Probably not Earth directed though. Can't find any data on what category it is yet.

SOHO C3

SOHO C2

Edited April 23, 2009 by frogesque

[Mondy]

Solar Cycle 23 spot returns, jeez

[frogesque]

Solar Cycle 23 spot returns, jeez

Frustrating or what? Maybe we've just skipped cycle 24 and gone straight to 25

[karyo]

Frustrating or what? Maybe we've just skipped cycle 24 and gone straight to 25

I don't find it frustrating at all! The more this quietness of the sun extends the more interesting it becomes...

Karyo

[tundra]

I don't find it frustrating at all! The more this quietness of the sun extends the more interesting it becomes...

Karyo

Agreed, we have a unique opportunity to see how much the sun does influence the climate by comparing hopefully a long deep solar minimum with a very active last 50+ years.

This minima could also dispell the co2, ghg warming theory and that the warming up to 1998 before it flatlined was in fact more to do with the sun than anything else.

[frogesque]

I don't find it frustrating at all! The more this quietness of the sun extends the more interesting it becomes...

Karyo

Ah! but solar mins are very frustrating for aurora freaks like me. I realise it's a magnificent chance to study the quiet sun and draw up a baseline for future comparison but would a teensy weensy X20 flare directed straight at us hurt?

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

Yet again today - no sunspots - and so it goes on.....

spaceweather

[karyo]

Some activity is emerging. Taken from spaceweather.com:

'NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft is monitoring an active region hidden behind the sun's eastern limb. On May 5th, it produced an impressive coronal mass ejection (movie) and a burst of Type II radio emissions caused by a shock wave plowing through the sun's outer atmosphere.

Activity continued apace on May 6th with at least two more eruptions. Furthermore, recent UV images from STEREO-B reveal not just one but two active regions: image. At the root of all this activity is probably a complex of sunspots.'

Karyo

[Guest North Sea Snow Convection]

Some activity is emerging. Taken from spaceweather.com:

'NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft is monitoring an active region hidden behind the sun's eastern limb. On May 5th, it produced an impressive coronal mass ejection (movie) and a burst of Type II radio emissions caused by a shock wave plowing through the sun's outer atmosphere.

Activity continued apace on May 6th with at least two more eruptions. Furthermore, recent UV images from STEREO-B reveal not just one but two active regions: image. At the root of all this activity is probably a complex of sunspots.'

Karyo

Still C23 though!?...

[karyo]

Still C23 though!?...

I hope so! We will know soon enough as that area of the sun comes to view in the coming days.

Karyo

[Crepuscular Ray]

Still C23 though!?...

At that high latitude it's more likely to be C24.

[Mondy]

Stereo Behind shows two impressive features:

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/browse/2009/05/07/

[Crepuscular Ray]

There've been at least two coronal mass ejections from that complex in the last couple of days, which is a definite improvement on the last couple of months!

[Mondy]

NOAA/SWPC will be releasing an update to the Solar Cycle 24 Prediction on Friday, May 8, 2009 at noon Eastern Daylight Time (1600 UT).

[Mondy]

The panel predicts the upcoming Solar Cycle 24 will peak in May 2013

http://www.spaceweather.com/headlines/y200...fl0v00d2pvm1od5

[karyo]

http://www.spaceweather.com/headlines/y200...fl0v00d2pvm1od5

I am pleased with the news: cycle 24 will be a moderately weak one!

Karyo

[Mondy]

I am pleased with the news: cycle 24 will be a moderately weak one!

Karyo

You don't fancy a couple of big X-20+ flares to occur giving aurora to southern latitudes?

[karyo]

You don't fancy a couple of big X-20+ flares to occur giving aurora to southern latitudes?

I can see the attraction but i would rather see a continuously quiet sun leading to the end of the global warming era and why not some cooling instead!

Karyo