Old man in the sun. Look carefully in the Northern Hemisphere. Magnetic filaments have formed and it looks devilish.
AR2718 is the active region that is facing us now as it is geocentered. Black coronal holes surround AR2718 giving us a contrast between dark and light.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
AR2718 continues to decline. Not only has it decayed from a beta to an alpha, but also it has decreased in size.
It most likely will decay to an H-alpha plage by Sunday or Monday.
Not yet shown on the NOAA report, there appears to be another active region forming near the Eastern limb of the sun. Two tiny sunspots are becoming more visible. Will it endure or increase? Time will tell, but during this solar minimum, many active regions suddenly develop only to decay rapidly.
Issued: 2018 Aug 19 0030 UTC
Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA,
Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force.
#
Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary
SRS Number 231 Issued at 0030Z on 19 Aug 2018
Report compiled from data received at SWO on 18 Aug
I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 18/2400Z
Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type
2718 S07W03 192 0010 Axx 01 01 Alpha
IA. H-alpha Plages without Spots. Locations Valid at 18/2400Z Aug
Nmbr Location Lo
None
II. Regions Due to Return 19 Aug to 21 Aug
Nmbr Lat Lo
None
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
While AR2718 is gradually decaying to an H-alpha plage, a new unnamed active solar region in the southeast is increasing in size and in strength as it moves westward.
Heralding this new sign on the solar disc, Belgium's Royal Observatory shows an increased EISN of 23 for August 19. It was originally 10 around 0200 UT today. Notably also, the GOES X-ray flux shows increased activity with peaks in the A5 range during the last 6 to 24 hours.
As they would say in the Star Wars movies: there is nothing to see. Move on. This is the solar minimum after all.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
News from Belgium: the newly developing unnamed active region is modestly increasing in area. It is only flaring in the A levels.
Solar images from The Sun Today show nothing significant.
While the GOES X-ray flux shows mild disturbances from the normally experienced flatlined solar minimum, there has been no recent B or C flaring. As of now, AR2718 has most likely degraded to an H-alpha plage.
COMMENT: The solar activity has been quiet over the past 24 hours. The
sunspot group (NOAA 2718) remained stable and no significant flare has been
recorded. A new sunspot group is currently developing on the East-South
quadrant of the solar disc. Quiet flaring conditions with a chance of
C-class flares from this new sunspot are expected.No Earth directed Coronal Mass Ejection has been observed. The solar
protons flux remained at nominal levels over the past 24 hours and is
expected to remain so.The solar wind parameters have shown a return towards an ambient-background
and slow solar wind speed regime. The wind speed unsteadily decreased from
575 to near 430 km/s. Total interplanetary magnetic field strength was
fairly steady remaining below 5 nT. The Southward magnetic component
fluctuated between -5 and 5 nT with no prolonged period of southward
direction. The solar wind speed is expected to continue its return towards
nominal values today and tomorrow morning. The solar wind will then be re-
enhanced due to the arrival of the fast solar wind associated with the
equatorial coronal hole of negative polarity that has reached the central
meridian on August 17. Another equatorial coronal hole (located around -15
degree latitude) of negative polarity has reached the central meridian
today, the enhancement of the solar wind due to this coronal hole is
expected to come relatively fast after.The geomagnetic conditions were quiet to unsettled. The conditions are
expected to return to quiet as the solar wind speed is returning towards
slow wind regime. Unsettled to active conditions are then expected by
August 20 in the afternoon due to the influence of the solar wind
associated to the coronal hole (that has reached the central meridian on
August 17).
TODAY'S ESTIMATED ISN : 021, BASED ON 20 STATIONS.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
NOAA has issued its daily report:
The newly named active region is a Beta, AR 2719, but it is barely visible now.
In addition, the GOES X-ray flux has currently taken a nose-dive, but things could change at any time.
cf. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/goes-x-ray-flux
AR2718 has diminished to that of an H-alpha plage as expected.
Thus, the images at The Sun Now are unremarkable. Nothing really to see at all.
Issued: 2018 Aug 20 0030 UTC
Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA,
Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force.
#
Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary
SRS Number 232 Issued at 0030Z on 20 Aug 2018
Report compiled from data received at SWO on 19 Aug
I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 19/2400Z
Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type
2719 S06E43 133 0010 Bxo 03 05 Beta
IA. H-alpha Plages without Spots. Locations Valid at 19/2400Z Aug
Nmbr Location Lo
2718 S06W19 195
II. Regions Due to Return 20 Aug to 22 Aug
Nmbr Lat Lo
None
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
The information below probably will not help, but I obtained it from Spaceweather.com
cf: http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/ma ... asses.html
Mount Wilson Sunspot Magnetic Classification
Classification of the magnetic character of sunspots according to rules set forth by the Mount Wilson Observatory in California.
alpha: A unipolar sunspot group.
beta: A sunspot group having both positive and negative magnetic polarities (bipolar), with a simple and distinct division between the polarities.
gamma: A complex active region in which the positive and negative polarities are so irregularly distributed as to prevent classification as a bipolar group.
beta-gamma: A sunspot group that is bipolar but which is sufficiently complex that no single, continuous line can be drawn between spots of opposite polarities.
delta: A qualifier to magnetic classes(see below) indicating that umbrae separated by less than 2 degrees within one penumbra have opposite polarity.
beta-delta: A sunspot group of general beta magnetic classification but containing one (or more) delta spot(s).
beta-gamma-delta: A sunspot group of beta-gamma magnetic classification but containing one (or more) delta spot(s).
gamma-delta: A sunspot group of gamma magnetic classification but containing one (or more) delta spot(s).
When sunspot areas (active regions) are classified as gamma, beta-gamma, delta, beta-delta, beta-gamma-delta, or gamma-delta, then there is an increased chance of M or X-class solar flaring. Sometimes a beta will dramatically and suddenly increase in area and in complexity and/or will trigger an impulsive M or X class solar flare with little time for any warning. I would hate to be on a jetliner during that time as GPS devices and other communications can be disrupted. We saw this occur during the last solar maximum during the years 2012 to 2015. Do not forget September 2017. This was during the solar minimum, but we had two huge X-class solar flares that registered higher than those occurring during the peak years. One was an X-9, which is extremely rare.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.
