Last major update issued on January 13, 2015 at 05:25 UTC.
[Solar and geomagnetic data - last month (updated
daily)]
[Solar wind and
electron fluence charts (updated
daily)]
[Solar cycles 23-24 (last update January 1,
2015)] [Cycle
24 progress (last update January 1, 2015) ]
[Solar cycles 1-20]
[Graphical comparison of cycles 21, 22, 23 and 24 (last
update January 1, 2015)]
[Graphical comparison of cycles 10, 12, 13, 14, 16 and
24 (last update January 1, 2015)]
[Historical solar and geomagnetic data charts 1954-2006
(last update April 5, 2007)]
[Archived reports since January 2003 (last update
January 3, 2015)]
[Noon SDO sunspot count 1K Reference: 4K (large file) (updated daily)]
[POES auroral activity level October
2009 - December 2012]
[Solar polar fields vs solar cycles - updated
December 27, 2014]
[Presentations:
3rd
SSN Workshop, Tucson, 2013 (pdf)
/
4th SSN Workshop, Locarno, 2014]
The geomagnetic field was quiet on January 12. Solar wind speed at SOHO ranged between 372 and 482 km/s.
Solar flux at 20h UTC on 2.8 GHz was 158.6 (decreasing 26.0 over the last solar rotation). The 90 day 10.7 flux at 1 AU was 155.6. The Potsdam WDC planetary A index was 6 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap indices: 6.4). Three hour interval K indices: 11122222 (planetary), 11124322 (Boulder).
The background x-ray flux is at the class B8 level.
At the time of counting spots (see image time), spots were observed in 12 active regions using 2K resolution (SN: 240) and 8 active regions using 1K resolution (SN: 145) SDO images on the visible solar disk.
Region 12255 [S14W68] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 12257 [N07W67] still has a magnetic delta in a
central northern penumbra. The region produced a major M5 flare at 04:23 UTC on
January 13.
Region 12258 [N15W02] was quiet and stable.
Region 12259 [S16E18] gained some small spots and was quiet.
Region 12260 [N08W33] matured and was mostly quiet.
Region 12261 [S11E32] was mostly quiet and stable.
Region 12262 [S01W42] decayed slowly and quietly.
Spotted regions not numbered (or interpreted differently) by SWPC:
S4134 [S22W09] was quiet and stable.
S4142 [S17W62] became magnetically less complex after producing several C
flares.
New region S4145 [N16E37] was observed with a penumbra spot.
New region S4146 [N32W02] was observed with penumbra spots.
New region S4147 [S30E30] emerged with a penumbra spot.
C2+ flares (GOES):
| Magnitude | Peak time (UTC) | Location | AR | Comment |
| C3.1 | 02:25 | N07W57 | 12257 | |
| C6.1 | 04:32 | N07W21 | 12260 | |
| C3.1 | 07:51 | S18W52 | S4142 | |
| C2.0 | 12:43 | S20W53 | S4142 | |
| C7.1 (LDE) | 14:44 | S19W55 | S4142 | |
| C3.7 | 15:21 | 12261 | CME |
January 10-12: No obviously Earth directed CMEs were observed in LASCO imagery. A CME associated with a C3 flare in AR 12261 may have had weak Earth directed components.
[Coronal hole history (since October
2002)]
[Compare today's report to the situation one solar rotation ago:
28 days ago
27 days ago
26 days ago]
A northern hemisphere coronal hole (CH650) could rotate into an Earth facing position on January 14.
Long distance low and medium frequency (below 2 MHz) propagation along paths north of due west over upper middle latitudes is poor. Propagation on long distance northeast-southwest paths is poor to fair.
The geomagnetic field is expected to be mostly quiet on January 13-15.
| Coronal holes (1) | Coronal mass ejection (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: 0-30% probability, Yellow: 30-70% probability, Red: 70-100% probability.
(Click on image for 2K resolution) Compare to the previous day's image. 0.5K image
When available the active region map has a coronal hole polarity overlay where red (pink) is negative and blue is positive.
Data for all numbered solar regions according to the Solar Region Summary provided by NOAA/SWPC. 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 SWPC or where SWPC has observed no spots. SWPC active region numbers in the table below and in the active region map above are the historic SWPC/USAF numbers.
| Active region | Date numbered detected |
Spot count | Location at midnight | Area | Classification | SDO / HMI 4K continuum image with magnetic polarity overlay |
Comment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWPC | Magnetic (SDO) |
SWPC | STAR | Current | Previous | ||||||
| 2K | 1K | ||||||||||
| 12255 | 2015.01.01 | 11 | 2 | 1 | S15W68 | 0110 | EAO | AXX |
 |
 |
SWPC failed to recognize AR S4142 as a separate region |
| 12257 | 2015.01.03 2015.01.06 |
16 | 17 | 11 | N07W68 | 0380 | EKC | EAC |
 |
 |
beta-gamma-delta |
| 12258 | 2015.01.06 | 15 | 5 | N16W02 | 0030 | BXO |
 |
 |
|||
| 12259 | 2015.01.06 2015.01.08 |
9 | 38 | 24 | S15E13 | 0350 | EKO | EKO |
 |
 |
beta-gamma area: 0440 location: S16E18 |
| S4133 | 2015.01.07 | N12W48 | plage | ||||||||
| S4134 | 2015.01.07 | 5 | S22W09 | 0010 | BXO | images/AR_S4134_20150112_2345.png | images/AR_S4134_20150111_2345.png | ||||
| 12260 | 2015.01.08 2015.01.09 |
8 | 12 | 7 | N09W33 | 0060 | DAI | DAI |
 |
 |
beta-gamma |
| 12261 | 2015.01.08 2015.01.09 |
1 | 3 | 2 | S11E31 | 0030 | HSX | CAO |
 |
 |
|
| S4137 | 2015.01.09 | N06W55 | plage | ||||||||
| S4138 | 2015.01.09 | S26W49 | plage | ||||||||
| 12262 | 2015.01.10 | 6 | 12 | 8 | S00W44 | 0020 | CRO | DRI |
 |
 |
area: 0040 location: S01W42 |
| S4141 | 2015.01.10 | S01W04 | plage | ||||||||
| S4142 | 2015.01.10 | 12 | 7 | S17W62 | 0150 | DAO |
 |
 |
|||
| S4143 | 2015.01.11 | S16W06 |
 |
plage | |||||||
| S4144 | 2015.01.11 | N10W56 |
 |
plage | |||||||
| S4145 | 2015.01.12 | 1 | N16E37 | 0001 | AXX |
 |
|||||
| S4146 | 2015.01.12 | 2 | N32E26 | 0004 | AXX |
 |
|||||
| S4147 | 2015.01.12 | 1 | S30E30 | 0001 | AXX |
 |
|
||||
| Total spot count: | 51 | 120 | 65 | ||||||||
| Sunspot number: | 111 | 240 | 145 | (total spot count + 10 * number of spotted regions) | |||||||
| Weighted SN: | 89 | 153 | 98 | (Sum of total spot count + classification weighting for each AR. Classification weighting: X=0, R=3, A/S=5, H/K=10) | |||||||
| Relative sunspot number (Wolf number): | 67 | 84 | 80 | k * (sunspot number). k = 0.6 for SWPC, k = 0.35 for MSN 2K, k = 0.55 for MSN 1K (MSN=Magnetic Sunspot Number) | |||||||
| Month | Average solar flux | International sunspot number (WDC-SILSO) |
Smoothed sunspot number | Average ap (3) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 1 AU | ||||
| 2013.09 | 102.6 | 103.7 | 36.9 | 73.1 (+4.1) | 5.23 |
| 2013.10 | 132.1 | 131.2 | 85.6 | 75.0 (+1.9) | 7.71 |
| 2013.11 | 148.3 | 145.1 | 77.6 | 75.4 (+0.4) | 5.68 |
| 2013.12 | 147.7 | 143.1 | 90.3 | 76.0 (+0.6) | 4.68 |
| 2014.01 | 157.4 | 152.4 | 81.8 | 77.3 (+1.3) | 5.44 |
| 2014.02 | 170.3 (cycle peak) |
166.3 | 102.3 (cycle peak) | 78.4 (+1.1) | 10.70 |
| 2014.03 | 149.9 | 148.5 | 91.9 | 80.8 (+2.4) | 4.88 |
| 2014.04 | 143.9 | 144.8 | 84.7 | 81.9 (+1.1) (likely solar max) |
7.88 |
| 2014.05 | 129.7 | 132.9 | 75.2 | 80.5 (-1.4) | 5.75 |
| 2014.06 | 122.0 | 125.8 | 71.0 | 79.7 (-0.8) | 6.72 |
| 2014.07 | 137.4 | 141.8 | 72.5 | (78.6 projected, -1.1) | 4.50 |
| 2014.08 | 124.7 | 127.9 | 74.7 | (76.2 projected, -2.4) | 7.71 |
| 2014.09 | 146.6 | 148.1 | 87.6 | (73.0 projected, -3.2) | 9.78 |
| 2014.10 | 153.4 | 152.9 | 60.6 | (70.5 projected, -2.5) | 8.96 |
| 2014.11 | 154.8 | 151.4 | 70.1 | (68.8 projected, -1.7) | 9.33 |
| 2014.12 | 158.7 | 153.8 | 78.0 | (67.7 projected, -1.1) | 11.24 |
| 2015.01 | 148.7 (1) | 44.3 (2A) / 114.5 (2B) / 88.1 (2C) | (66.5 projected, -1.2) | (12.3) | |
1) Running average based on the daily 20:00 UTC observed solar flux value at
2800 MHz.
2A) Current impact on the monthly sunspot number based on the Boulder
(NOAA/SWPC) sunspot number (accumulated daily sunspots / month days). The
official WDC-SILSO international sunspot number is typically 30-50% lower. 2B)
Boulder SN current month
average to date. 2C) STAR SDO 1K Wolf number 30 day average.
3) Running average based on the quicklook and definitive Potsdam WDC ap indices.
Values in red are based on the definitive
international
GFZ Potsdam
WDC
ap indices.
This report has been prepared by Jan Alvestad. It is based on the analysis of data from whatever sources are available at the time the report is prepared. All time references are to the UTC day. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
SDO images are courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
