CME impact last night

The impact of a CME was felt here in Birr last night. Small magnetic disturbances occured shortly after 3bst (2UT) until about 7bst. Cloud covered most of the country and there are no reports of aurora as yet. The sudden commencement point marks the probable initial impact of the CME.

Dave Gradwell

Sunspot 1476 and a nice prominence

 A quiet day today for big sunspot 1476. I did manage to get an image of it though. Conditions weren't great with a strong wind and a turbulent atmosphere. Both taken with my 120mm achromat and pst etalon.

Dave Gradwell

1476 continues to flare

Huge sunspot 1476 continues to release many flares including 2 M class today. Unfortunately they came outside of the window of my solar flare monitor. However it did capture a volley of smaller C class flares during the day.

On the magnetic side there is an event happening as I speak but a north polarity solar wind means little chance of activity. We have been expecting 2 CMEs but as yet there is no confirmed data. Take a look at my magnetogram below, there are 2 small "nicks" in the curve, one after 13:00bst and one just after 20:00bst. These could be CME impact signatures called sudden impacts, but this is not verified.

Dave Gradwell

Surely a big one's on the way!

Sunspot 1476 continues to dominate solar activity it released 2 large M class flares to day and chances are it may let go a bigger X class flare in the next few days (well we can live and hope anyway).

Also magnetic activity is on the increase, either from a CME released yesterday or a fast solar wind buffeting Earth as I type. In any case my magnetometer shows enough activity for aurora to be visible so check your northern horizon. Ronan Newman from Galway Astronomy Club captured aurora last night with minimal magnetic activity so it's always worth taking a look when conditions are right.

Dave Gradwell

More flares today

Another medium sized flare from 1476 also some smaller flares earlier in the day. Surely we'll get an X class flare soon??

Dave GRadwell

What a flare day!

With many active sunspots facing us it wasn't surprising that  I recorded numerous flares. Unexpectedly, 1471 stole the show with a large M class, while larger 1476 shot off lower energy Cs. We had some amazing thunder storms in Ireland yesterday with some cloud to air lightening observed. This activity also shows on the graph, with numerous spikes appearing across the day.

Dave Gradwell

Sunspot images

Here's the images as promised. 1476 and its retinue of large filaments and large but quiet 1471. Both taken in hydrogen alpha light with a 120mm achromat refractor and PST etalon. The camera used was a DMK618.

Dave Gradwell

More flares and finally some images

Sunspot 1476 continues to be very active again today, it released a medium sized M class flare which my solar flare monitor picked up (don't forget you can watch these in real time at that link).  It's still facing away from us so CMEs that may come off one of these flares won't be geoeffective. However it is encircled by a retinue of large filaments which can be the ammunition for CMEs.
I've finally got imaging again after many months and my first image of this spot will appear later.

Dave Gradwell

A change of weather? and a "super Moon"

New sunspot 1476 is turning toward Earth and bringing with it an upsurge in solar activity. It released a medium sized M class flare this morning followed by a string of smaller "Cs" later in the day. This may mean a change to the quiet space weather of recent days.
Tonight's full Moon is the closest of the year (actually near 3:30 UT Sunday morning). I captured it just before it rose into the clouds here near Birr.

Dave Gradwell

A very quiet Sun

Solar activity is very low at present. There are a few spots on the surface but none are very active. A small flare was released late this morning as picked up by my solar flare monitor. Magnetic activity is also very quiet, in fact at its lowest levels in a while.

Dave Gradwell