Last major update issued on October 26, 2006 at 03:40 UTC.
[Solar and
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[Solar cycles 21-23
(last update October 2, 2006)]
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[Graphical comparison
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[Graphical
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[Historical solar and
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[Archived reports (last update
October 2, 2006)]
The geomagnetic field was quiet on October 25. Solar wind speed ranged between 367 and 468 km/s (all day average 438 km/s - decreasing 15 km/s from the previous day).
Solar flux measured at 20h UTC on 2.8 GHz was 74.7. The planetary A index was 4 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap indices: 4.0). Three hour interval K indices: 12210000 (planetary), 23412220 (Boulder).
The background x-ray flux is at the class A2 level.
At midnight the visible solar disk was spotless. The solar flare activity level was very low. No C class events were recorded during the day.
October 23-25: No obvious partly or fully Earth directed CMEs were detected in LASCO imagery.
Coronal hole history (since late October 2002)
Compare today's report to the situation one solar rotation ago:
28 days ago
27 days ago
26 days ago
A fragmented trans equatorial coronal hole structure (CH245) was in an Earth facing position on October 24-26. The extension into the northern hemisphere is poorly defined.
Processed SOHO/EIT 284 image at 13:06 UTC on October 25. The darkest areas on the solar disk are likely coronal holes.
The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet on October 26. On October 27-29 quiet to active conditions are likely due to effects from CH245. Mostly quiet conditions are likely on October 30 - November 5.
Coronal holes (1) | Coronal mass ejections (2) | M and X class flares (3) |
1) Effects from a coronal hole could reach Earth
within the next 5 days. When the high speed stream has arrived the color changes to green.
2) Effects from a CME are likely to be observed at Earth within 96 hours.
3) There is a possibility of either M or X class flares within the next 48 hours.
Green: 0-20% probability, Yellow: 20-60% probability, Red: 60-100% probability.
Long distance low and medium frequency (below 2 MHz) propagation along east-west paths over high and upper middle latitudes is good. Propagation on long distance northeast-southwest paths is poor.
Monitoring remarks from a location near N58E06: Lots of stations from North America were heard during the night, some with excellent signals. While propagation favored stations from the easternmost parts, some stations from further west, like 1130 KFAN and 660 CFFR, surfaced at times.
Compare to the previous day's image.
Data for all numbered solar regions according to the Solar Region Summary provided by NOAA/SEC. Comments are my own, as is the STAR spot count (spots observed at or inside a few hours before midnight) and data for regions not numbered by SEC or where SEC has observed no spots. SEC active region numbers in the table below and in the active region map above are the historic SEC/USAF numbers.
Active region | Date numbered | SEC spot count |
STAR spot count |
Location at midnight | Area | Classification | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10917 | 2006.10.19 | 5 | S05W86 | 0100 | CAO | rotated out of view | |
Total spot count: | 5 | 0 | |||||
SSN: | 15 | 0 |
Month | Average solar flux at Earth |
International sunspot number | Smoothed sunspot number |
---|---|---|---|
2000.04 | 184.2 | 125.5 | 120.8 cycle 23 sunspot max. |
2000.07 | 202.3 | 170.1 | 119.8 |
2001.12 | 235.1 | 132.2 | 114.6 (-0.9) |
2005.08 | 90.5 | 36.4 | 27.4 (-1.7) |
2005.09 | 91.1 | 21.9 | 25.8 (-1.6) |
2005.10 | 77.0 | 8.7 | 25.5 (-0.3) |
2005.11 | 86.3 | 18.0 | 24.9 (-0.6) |
2005.12 | 90.7 | 41.1 | 23.0 (-1.9) |
2006.01 | 83.4 | 15.3 | 20.8 (-2.2) |
2006.02 | 76.5 | 4.9 | 18.6 (-2.2) |
2006.03 | 75.4 | 10.6 | 17.3 (-1.3) |
2006.04 | 89.0 | 30.2 | (17.1 predicted, -0.2) |
2006.05 | 80.9 | 22.2 | (16.8 predicted, -0.3) |
2006.06 | 76.5 | 13.9 | (15.1 predicted, -1.7) |
2006.07 | 75.7 | 12.2 | (13.2 predicted, -1.9) |
2006.08 | 79.0 | 12.9 | (12.8 predicted, -0.4) |
2006.09 | 77.8 | 14.5 | (12.6 predicted, -0.2) |
2006.10 | 74.2 (1) | 12.9 (2) | (11.6 predicted, -1.0) |
1) Running average based on the
daily 20:00 UTC observed solar flux
value at 2800 MHz.
2) Unofficial, accumulated value based on the Boulder (NOAA/SEC)
sunspot number. The official international sunspot number is typically
30-50% lower.
This report has been prepared by Jan Alvestad. It is based partly on my own observations and analysis, and partly on data from some of these solar data sources. All time references are to the UTC day. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
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