QUIET SUN: With no sunspots actively flaring, the sun's x-ray outut has nearly flatlined. Solar activity is very low and likely to remain so for the next 24 hours. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.
SO THIS IS SOLAR MAXIMUM? Forecasters have long expected the Solar Max of 2013 to be the weakest of the Space Age. It might be even weaker than they thought. As shown in this 20-year plot of sunspot counts vs. time, the sun is underperforming:
SO THIS IS SOLAR MAXIMUM? Forecasters have long expected the Solar Max of 2013 to be the weakest of the Space Age. It might be even weaker than they thought. As shown in this 20-year plot of sunspot counts vs. time, the sun is underperforming:
Sunspot numbers are notoriously variable, so the actual counts could rapidly rise to meet or exceed the predicted curve. For now, however, the face of the sun is devoid of large sunspots, and there have been no strong flares in more than a week. The threshold of Solar Max looks a lot like Solar Min. NOAA forecasters estimate no more than a 1% chance of X-class solar flares in the next 24 hours.
CORONAL HOLE: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring a dark hole in the sun's atmosphere, a "coronal hole." It is near the sun's western limb in this extreme ultraviolet image taken during the early hours of Nov. 5th:
CORONAL HOLE: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring a dark hole in the sun's atmosphere, a "coronal hole." It is near the sun's western limb in this extreme ultraviolet image taken during the early hours of Nov. 5th:
Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows the solar wind to escape. A stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole is expected to reach Earth on Nov. 6th. Polar sky watchers should be alert for auroras when it arrives. www.spaceweather.com
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