As the Sun Turns: Solar Minimums and Maximums

[Luke]

Yes. That is what we saw -- minus the writing. I never thought about the timing. Now that you mentioned it, it is interesting food for thought.

[Maria]

This week has been a blockbuster.

Sunspot group AR2673 has unleashed multiple Cs, Ms, and several X rated solar flares.

On Wednesday, September 6, 2017, it unleashed a Solar Cycle 25 record: X9.3 which peaked at 1202 UT (5:02 AM PDT), so those of us on the West Coast did not see or feel it. However, this mega solar storm triggered auroras world wide with auroras seen down in Arkansas.

The latest flare was a gradual, sustained M1-class solar flare, which is displayed below. AR2673 is active region on the right limb of the sun shown soon departing our view but broadly flaring.

solar image_09-10-2017_0001 UT_ M Class Flare_AR2673.jpg (13.21 KiB) Viewed 1611 times

09-10-2017_sustained M1 _0001 UT_Beta-Delta-Gamma AR2673_goes-xray-flux-6-hour.gif (9.85 KiB) Viewed 1611 times

[Maria]

Below is a photo of our sun showing it aglow with multiple flaring at 1306 UT (6:06 AM PDT).
I awoke about that time feeling sick.

The M3 class solar flare unleashed from AR2673 is prominently displayed on the right limb of the sun.

[Maria]

This morning I awoke with another solar storm, this time it was an X8.3 from departing active solar region AR2673. This monster storm peaked at 1606 UT, which is 9:09 AM PDT (12:09 PM EDT.) New York got blasted as well as the Eastern Seaboard. This has got to affect the hurricane hitting Florida as it was a dramatic surge in solar energy.

Below are two images. One of the sun still irradiating us at 1715 UT, and the other is a plot of the solar event as it unfolded.

[Maria]

Below is a global plot showing not only the X-flare from AR2673 but also elevated proton flux.

Global. 09-10-2017 1738 UT_AR2673 X-flaring.png (41.88 KiB) Viewed 1605 times

All HF radio short wave communications are dead because of upper ionospheric disturbances.

Here is NASA's view of the X8.3 solar flare that we experienced at 1606 UT (9:06 AM PDT)

[Maria]

Here is a recent global plot showing that the Proton Flux has increased to STRONG.

Global. 09-11-2017 0041 UT_Strong Proton Flux.png (33.8 KiB) Viewed 1594 times

And below is a recent plot showing the X-ray flux.

[Maria]

The most recent global plot shows that the Proton Flux has increased even further.

We are still being irradiated folks, so if you do not feel well, get some extra sleep, and avoid going outside.
This kind of radiation can still affect you even if you are inside a plane, car, or home, but the radiation exposure is less.