Solar Section        

September 14, 2020

CR 2234 Summary

By Kim Hay
Acting Assistant Coordinator

Carrington Rotation CR2234 started on 2020-08-11 1150 UT and ended on 2020-09-07 1745 UT.

On July 26th sunspot AR2270 rotated onto the Sun in the northeast and remained on the Sun until August 14th. This group produced a C2 class solar flare from the decaying sunspot.

On August 12th sunspot AR2771, which was in the southern hemisphere group of Solar Cycle 25 regions showing on NASA’s magnetic map, was visually seen on August 13th but gone by August 15th.

August 16th the Sun produced a B1 class flare in the southern hemisphere but no spots were evident.

Sunspot AR2772 showed up August 18th in the northern hemisphere producing a CME that missed Earth on Aug 20th as per NASA’s STEREO A satellite.

On August 28th the Sun produced a minor G1 class geomagnetic storm that produced Arctic auroras with solar winds of 500 km/s hitting the Earth’s atmosphere. Auroras were observed again on August 31st for five straight days.

The Sun then remained blank to the end of CR2234, reflecting very low activity with our Sun still waffling between Cycle 24 and 25.

Images & Sketches can be found on the Solar ALPO image gallery for CR2234 from the following individuals:

Theo Ramakers
Howard Eskildsen
Frank J. Melillo
Guilherme Grassmann
Paul Andrew
Monty Leventhal (sketch)
David Teske (sketch)
Tony Broxton (sketch)

September 8, 2020

A Short Summary of CR2234

By Theo Ramakers

Carrington Rotation CR2234 covered the time period from 2020-08-11 1150 UT – 2020-09-07 1745 UT.

The observations can be viewed in my Solar Archive for CR2234 which can be accessed at: http://ceastronomy.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=50864

The rotation brought us 21 spotless days, with a spotless streak of 17 days. The rotation showed us 3 named Active Regions AR2770, 71 and 72. AR2770 extended from the previous rotation for another 2 days. Another region which was named AR2771 was visible concurrently with AR2770 for one day. However the new region was short lived with 2 days only. A third region AR2772 was visible for 3 days starting on 08/19/2020. The regions were very small at 10 millionths, with AR2772 being the exception by growing to 20 millionths for one day on 08/20/2020, on which day also the maximum wolf number of 24 was observed. Overall Solar Activity remained Very Low with the total Active Region Area for the rotation measuring only 90 millionths, while the rotation increased the spotless days count since solar maximum to 825 spotless days. Finally, during the period SWPC reported 2 A-class, 13 B class, and no C-class flares. The largest B-Flare, a B3.9 was observed on 08/19/2020.

Even though that solar activity is Very Low, it is also interesting to note that 14 of the last 17 named Active Regions since January 1 of this year were Cycle 25 polarized.

This time I would like to feature some images showing an unnamed, interesting feature that passed by, towards the end of the rotation.

September 3, 2020

Summaries for Carrington Rotations CR2228-CR2230

By Theo Ramakers

A Short Summary of CR2230

Carrington Rotation CR2230 covered the time period from 2020-04-24 1529 UT – 2020-05-21 2100 UT.

The observations can be viewed in my Solar Archive for CR2230 which can be accessed at: http://ceastronomy.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=49751

The rotation brought us 21 spotless days, with a spotless streak of 20 days which was interrupted for 6 days while showing 4 Active Regions. AR2760 emerged on 4/26/2020 and lasted the entire 6 days with the exception that it disappeared for a short time on 4/29. Another region which was named AR2761 showed only for part of a day one day earlier. All regions were very small at 10 millionths, with AR2761 being the exception by increasing to 20 millionths on 4/30 and 5/1. The maximum Wolf Number of 35 was reached on 5/1 when both AR2760 and 63 were reported with 2 spots each. Overall Solar Activity remained Very Low with a Total Rotation Active Region Area of 100 millionths, while the rotation increased the spotless days count since solar maximum to 759 spotless days. Finally, during the period SWPC reported two A-class, two B class, and no C-class flares.

This time I would like to feature some combination images showing some prominences at the SW rim.

A Short Summary of CR2229

Carrington Rotation CR2229 covered the time period from 2020-03-28 0857 UT – 2020-04-24 1529 UT.

The observations can be viewed in my Solar Archive for CR2229 which can be accessed at: http://ceastronomy.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=49494

The rotation brought us 22 spotless days with a streak of 19 days. We had one Active Region, AR2759, which emerged on 3/31/2020 and lasted for 5 days. The region’s maximum coverage was 30 millionths on April 3 and 4, when it supported 2 and respectively 3 spots. Overall Solar Activity remained Very Low and the rotation increased the spotless days count since solar maximum to 738 spotless days. Finally, during the period SWPC reported three A-class, seven B class and no C-class flares.

At this time, I would like to feature some combination images showing AR2759 in three different wavelengths on three different days.

A Short Summary of CR2228

Carrington Rotation CR2228 covered the time period from 2020-03-01 0126 UT – 2020-03-28 0857 UT.

For two days on March 9th and the 10th, the rotation did bring a new active region AR2758. On March 9th as an Hrx, and 10th as a Cro area, however, its size did not exceed 20 millionths.  I did not have the time to keep up with the Reverse Polarized Areas during this rotation, but will catch up for the next summary with a new reverse polarized area report. On March 28rd the current spotless streak stands at 18 spotless days.   Overall Solar Activity remained Very Low and the rotation increased the spotless days count since solar maximum to 716 days. Finally, during the period SWPC reported three A-class, one B class and no C-class flares.