Last major update issued on February 5, 2006 at 05:25 UTC.
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The geomagnetic field was inactive to quiet on February 4. Solar wind speed ranged between 346 and 414 (all day average 359) km/sec under the influence of a weak stream from CH208.
Solar flux measured at 20h UTC on 2.8 GHz was 77.0. The planetary A
index was 4 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap
indices: 3.9).
Three hour interval K indices: 12211001 (planetary), 10211111 (Boulder).
The background x-ray flux is below the class A1 level.
At midnight there was 1 spotted region on the visible solar disk. The solar flare activity level was very low. No C class events were recorded during the day.
Spotted regions not numbered by NOAA/SEC:
[S620] This region emerged late on February 4 in the northwest
quadrant. Location at midnight: N05W16.
February 2-4: No obviously fully or partly Earth directed CMEs were observed.
Coronal hole history (since late October 2002)
Compare today's report with the
situation one solar rotation ago:
28
days ago
27 days ago
26
days ago
A small coronal hole (CH209) in the northern hemisphere was in an Earth facing position on February 4. A recurrent coronal hole (CH210) in the northern hemisphere will likely rotate into an Earth facing position on February 8-9.
Processed SOHO/EIT 284 image at 01:06 UTC on February 5. The darkest areas on the solar disk are likely coronal holes.
The geomagnetic field is expected to be mostly quiet on February 5-10. Quiet to unsettled conditions are possible on February 11-12 due to effects from CH210
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. Trans Atlantic propagation conditions are normally monitored every night on 1470 kHz. Dominant station tonight: WLAM Lewiston ME. On other frequencies many stations from the eastern half of the USA were audible, some with excellent signals. WBBR on 1130 peaked at the S9+10dB signal level, Numerous stations were noted on frequencies like 1230, 1450 and 1490 kHz.
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
S620 | 2006.02.04 | 1 | N05W16 | 0000 | AXX | ||
Total spot count: | 0 | 1 | |||||
SSN: | 0 | 11 |
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) |
2004.12 | 94.5 | 17.9 | 35.2 (-0.1) |
2005.01 | 102.2 | 31.3 | 34.6 (-0.6) |
2005.02 | 97.2 | 29.2 | 33.9 (-0.7) |
2005.03 | 89.9 | 24.5 | 33.5 (-0.4) |
2005.04 | 86.0 | 24.4 | 31.6 (-1.9) |
2005.05 | 99.3 | 42.6 | 28.9 (-2.7) |
2005.06 | 93.7 | 39.6 | 28.8 (-0.1) |
2005.07 | 96.4 | 39.9 | 29.1 (+0.3) |
2005.08 | 90.5 | 36.4 | (27.6 predicted, -1.5) |
2005.09 | 91.1 | 22.1 | (25.8 predicted, -1.8) |
2005.10 | 77.0 | 8.5 | (24.0 predicted, -1.8) |
2005.11 | 86.3 | 18.0 | (21.6 predicted, -2.4) |
2005.12 | 90.7 | 41.2 | (18.7 predicted, -2.9) |
2006.01 | 83.4 | 15.4 | (15.6 predicted, -3.1) |
2006.02 | 77.7 (1) | 0.0 (2) | (12.5 predicted, -3.1) |
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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