Sunspot Activity

[Mondy]

Often can be SpE, but the season is passing for them soon. Very good fun when that occurs.

Nah, this definetly auroral sounding. Weak, then strong, weak again.Kinda a garbled sound too - hard to explain actually :huh:

Just swung the beam NE to Scandanavia and hearing distant stations, but nothing to right home about. IPS states the next 3 hours for minor G1 storms..we await..

[kar999]

Just received Amber Alert with KP= 6. Anyone North of the the border with clear skies might get to see some Auroral activity if its strong enough.

EDIT: Still thick cloud here from the earlier passing storm front so no joy here tonight.

Edited August 31, 2005 by kar999

[shuggee]

Mist and cloud unfortunately here - general humidity/dampness in the air. Looking good for someone up here though.

[frogesque]

Like shuggee it's a blanket outside tonight, very humid with ground fog, not worth driving to try and out run it

Edited August 31, 2005 by frogesque

[shuggee]

It's typical isn't it - today is sunny and the clearest in terms of visibility it's been for quite a while - can see right up into the Mountains from here. And 'no major activity detected'.

[kar999]

So often the way shuggee...

Isolated major storm conditions may be possible on 2 September due to the effects of the full halo CME from the long duration C2 x-ray event that occurred today (31 Aug).

But it'll probably be cloudy then even if things kick off!

Edited September 1, 2005 by kar999

[Mondy]

If yer after auroras go to Saturn! The movie below shows an explosion on the far side of the Sun (the side we can't see yet) and the resulting C.M.E is heading for Saturn..lucky devils!

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/01sep05/cme_c3.gif

[shuggee]

Isolated major storm conditions may be possible on 2 September due to the effects of the full halo CME from the long duration C2 x-ray event that occurred today (31 Aug).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The readings on the KP index graph are increasing steadily this morning - up to KP5 -now in the red zone. Need to keep an eye on this. ANd it's sunny and not too cloudy so far....

[kar999]

Yep Shuggee, well worth keeping an eye on this one. I doubt if it will be major but you guys up north might get lucky. G1 geomagnetic storm currently taking place. Let's hope it builds up nicely to a peak here after dusk.

AURORA WATCH: A coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading for Earth; it was hurled in our direction by an C-class explosion above tiny sunspot 803 on August 31st. Although the CME is diffuse and faint, it could spark a mild geomagnetic storm when it arrives--possibly tonight. Sky watchers in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia should be alert for auroras.

Edited September 2, 2005 by kar999

[frogesque]

I looked out a few times last night / this morning but no sign of activity from the house. I'd had a couple of beers so couldn't drive but there was definitely nothing major. It was a crystal clear night too with no moon - ain't that the way of it!

[shuggee]

Beer was what stopped me too. And far too much of it!

Still activity today - KP5 or 6 consistently.

Out at a party in Midlothian tonight - so less light pollution; will keep an eye out and undoubtedly get a crowd gathered in the back garden!

Edited September 3, 2005 by shuggee

[Mondy]

To be honest, we need a KP of 7 or above for any show. I know KP6 is the reasonable amount of index for heralding aurora, but prolly if you live in Shetland and Orkney. Still, you never know..

Also solar wind isn't yet fast enough at 576.8km/s....going by previous times, wind speeds above 650-700 definetly helped...

[kar999]

From spaceweather.com.

SOLAR FLARE: On Sept. 7th at 1740 UT (1:40 p.m. EDT), Earth-orbiting satellites detected a major X17-class solar flare coming from the sun's eastern limb. The blast caused a complete blackout of HF radio transmissions on the daylit side of Earth. Emergency personnel in hurricane-hit areas of the U.S. Gulf Coast may have experienced problems with their communications gear for minutes to hours after the flare.

The source of the flare was returning sunspot 798, which sparked strong auroras in late August. Two weeks of quiet followed those storms while the sunspot transited the farside of the sun--but now it's back, and it's turning toward our planet again.

Its a shame such a huge flare wasn't earth directed as it would have most likely produced aurora visible way down South.

However.....

Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be moderate to high. Region 808 is obviously a complex and moderate-large size sunspot group with great flare potential. Expect further major flares.

Edited September 8, 2005 by kar999

[frogesque]

Another week or so before 798 will be directly Earth facing so let's hope it holds out!

[kar999]

I hope so... I'll be in the Scotish Borders from the 17th with zero light pollution. (Just hope there is zero cloud as well!!)

Edited September 8, 2005 by kar999

[kar999]

Here's the culprit rotating our way nicely...

http://www.bbso.njit.edu/Images/daily/images/hfullc.jpg

[kar999]

Another major X-class flare (X5) unleased today from sunspot 798 at 21:15 UTC... Solar radiation storms S2 (click link for details) and radio blackouts R2/3 (click link for details) currently in progress.

X-Ray flux activity has practically been in the C-Class and above bracket for over 48 hours. If this sunspot keeeps this up when it's pointing our way, just a couple more days or so, we should be in with some good chances of seeing the aurora (weather permitting) even at lower latitudes.

As always, check the indicators on the post above for local activity.

http://www.net-weather.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=14968

Edited September 8, 2005 by kar999

[Gray-Wolf]

Aurora watch picked a good time to go down!!! any links to live feeds out there for me to crib off?

[kar999]

There data is still being displayed there. Use the sticky I posted above to monitor activity. http://www.net-weather.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=14968

Or check out these:

http://www.spaceweather.com

The Aurora Live

[kar999]

From Spaceweather.com

The storm unfortunately occured during UK daytime but the alert still applies for the next few days. Clear skies permitting!.

AURORA ALERT: A strong geomagnetic storm sparked beautiful auroras last night.

Although the storm is subsiding now, it could be re-energized at any time by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) propelled in our direction from active sunspot 798. Sky watchers everywhere should remain alert for auroras tonight.

[Gray-Wolf]

From Spaceweather.com

The storm unfortunately occured during UK daytime but the alert still applies for the next few days. Clear skies permitting!.

AURORA ALERT: A strong geomagnetic storm sparked beautiful auroras last night.

Although the storm is subsiding now, it could be re-energized at any time by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) propelled in our direction from active sunspot 798. Sky watchers everywhere should remain alert for auroras tonight.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hope 798 will bring us a week of interesting spaceweather. If it was knocking out coms here on earth whilst turned away then what'll she do when we're in her sights?

[Gray-Wolf]

Yet another ongoing storm during daylight!!!!

[shuggee]

Just caught up on this one - it's certainly a biggy. Wonder what the duration is likely to be...

[frogesque]

Just caught up on this one - it's certainly a biggy.  Wonder what the duration is likely to be...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

798 is on its second turn round the sun so its been long lived. I caught just a faint trace last night up in Perthshire but it honestly wasn't worth the effort. If you didn't know it was aurora you wouldn't have noticed it. Daytime events are all part of the frustration I'm afraid.

The night wasn't a total loss, some nice, very fast delta Aurigid meteors were visible.

[SnowBear]

Activity level 10 right now, possibly peeps will see some tonight

http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/