June 5, 2024 @ 17:30 UTC
A filament located in the northeast quadrant erupted beginning at 16:00 UTC (Jun 5). This will likely fling a stream of plasma into space, however the trajectory should be mostly off the Sun-Earth line. More details to follow if necessary.

June 5, 2024 @ 17:30 UTC (UPDATED)
A filament located in the northeast quadrant erupted beginning at 16:00 UTC (Jun 5). The event flung a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space that appears to be well off the Sun-Earth line. No impacts to Earth should be expected. Still an awesome looking event!

keep up the reports.  I like them greatly

That's impressive.

Very cool. I would love to the the ole borealis again soon. Maybe next time.

June 6, 2024 @ 20:00 UTC
AR 3697 (3664) continues to produce solar flares, just not of the eruptive variety which is not good news for those who crave coronal mass ejections and geomagnetic storms. This M6.1 flare peaked on Thursday at 15:06 UTC (Jun 6). It seems apparent that a repeat of last month is not in the cards this time around.
Stay tuned to SolarHam.com for the most up to date space weather news and information.

June 6, 2024 @ 20:00 UTC
An M4.0 solar flare was detected around newly assigned sunspot region 3709 at 09:13 UTC (Jun 7). This is possibly the return of old AR 3679 last seen on May 25th before turning onto the farside of the Sun. We will get a better look at the active region over the next 24 hours as it continues to turn back into view.

June 7, 2024 @ 12:10 UTC
Perhaps a weak transient passage detected this morning at 10:50 UTC (Jun 7). The solar wind speed increased by 50 km/s to above 400 km/s and the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is currently trending south (-10nT). Active geomagnetic conditions (Kp4) possible in the hours ahead. Minor (G1) geomagnetic storming may be possible if the Bz holds south for a longer duration.

Surprise Storm: The moderate (G2) geomagnetic storm threshold was reached at 14:56 UTC (Jun 7). This was following a prolonged period of southward Bz that reached -15 nT. It has since shifted back to the north, so this storm should be short lived. As always, further updates will be provided when necessary. Not good timing for aurora sky watchers across Europe and North America..

June 8, 2024 @ 03:30 UTC (UPDATED)
AR 3697, more affectionately known as AR 3664, just produced a near X-Flare (M9.7) peaking at 01:49 UTC (Jun 8th). This resulted in a large eruption of plasma as seen here in the latest image courtesy of GOES-16 SUVI. Because the event took place towards the southwest limb, it should be mostly directed towards the west and away from Earth. More details to follow.

I like how that flare is like ten times the size of Jupiter, if not more.

The EM field stuff is so amazingly wild.

Video:

June 8, 2024 @ 09:10 UTC
A "snowstorm" is underway as energetic particles bombard the LASCO detectors onboard the SOHO spacecraft. It should be noted that the strong (S3) radiation storm threshold was touched at 08:00 UTC (Jun 8th). While we await a CME tracking model, it does appear that the edge of the plasma cloud is heading in our direction. This means that a geomagnetic storm will be possible by perhaps Monday. Stay tuned for further updates.

I will be ready for them this time.

Geomagnetic Storm Watch: The large scale CME observed leaving the Sun early this morning has been modeled by NOAA/SWPC. The are calling for the edge of the plasma cloud to pass Earth sometime early on June 10th. A moderate (G2) geomagnetic storm watch will be in effect beginning Monday.

June 9, 2024 @ 16:55 UTC
As we prepare to say goodbye to AR 3664 (3697) for the second time, below is a look back at the formerly massive sunspot region over the past nearly six weeks. After first turning into view on May 1st, it would continue to grow and go on to produce twelve X-Flares during the first transit. After rotating onto the farside of the Sun on May 14th, it would reappear again on May 28th. Another five X-Flares were detected during the second transit, bringing the total to 17. A pretty impressive run! Of course there was also the energetic M9.7 flare early Saturday morning which produced a bright CME that is expected to deliver a glancing blow to our geomagnetic field within the next 24 hours. The chances of surviving the trek around the farside yet again is likely much smaller, but we will see later this month. So long for now!

dang it I was really wanting more from AR3664...just in time for elections hahha

Auf wiedersehen, 3664.

I expected sunspots to decay before they could make more than a full rotation.  I guess not now.

June 10, 2024 @ 12:30 UTC
An X1.5 solar flare was produced by departing AR 3697 (3664) at 11:08 UTC (Jun 10). Despite shrinking in size, the region still remains potent as it turns behind the west limb. A coronal mass ejection (CME) is associated with the event and is heading to the west and away from Earth. Other than the radio blackout, no major impacts are expected. Perhaps in two weeks we will see whatever remains of the flare producing machine turn back into view once again. Bye for now!

June 10, 2024 @ 16:50 UTC (UPDATED)
The edge of the CME produced early Saturday morning by the M9.7 eruption just passed the ACE spacecraft. A passage past Earth is expected within the next 45 minutes. The solar wind speed increased by nearly 100 km/s to just over 400 km/s and the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is initially pointing south. More details to follow.
CME Impact: The Boulder magnetometer detected a geomagnetic sudden impulse just after 17:20 UTC. This is the moment the expected CME passed Earth. Enhanced geomagnetic activity, possibly reaching storm levels will be possible for the remainder of today.

SUMMARY: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse
Observed: 2024 Jun 10 1725 UTC
Deviation: 52 nT
Station: NGK

Looks like we dodged a bullet back in May.

https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/mars/nasa-watches-mars-light-up-during-epic-solar-storm/

Lots of embedded pictures/movies at the link.


In addition to producing auroras, a recent extreme storm provided more detail on how much radiation future astronauts could encounter on the Red Planet.

Mars scientists have been anticipating epic solar storms ever since the Sun entered a period of peak activity earlier this year called solar maximum. Over the past month, NASA’s Mars rovers and orbiters have provided researchers with front-row seats to a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections that have reached Mars — in some cases, even causing Martian auroras.

This science bonanza has offered an unprecedented opportunity to study how such events unfold in deep space, as well as how much radiation exposure the first astronauts on Mars could encounter.

The biggest event occurred on May 20 with a solar flare later estimated to be an X12 — X-class solar flares are the strongest of several types — based on data from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, a joint mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The flare sent out X-rays and gamma rays toward the Red Planet, while a subsequent coronal mass ejection launched charged particles. Moving at the speed of light, the X-rays and gamma rays from the flare arrived first, while the charged particles trailed slightly behind, reaching Mars in just tens of minutes.

The unfolding space weather was closely tracked by analysts at the Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which flagged the possibility of incoming charged particles following the coronal mass ejection.

If astronauts had been standing next to NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at the time, they would have received a radiation dose of 8,100 micrograys — equivalent to 30 chest X-rays. While not deadly, it was the biggest surge measured by Curiosity’s Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD, since the rover landed 12 years ago.

RAD’s data will help scientists plan for the highest level of radiation exposure that might be encountered by astronauts, who could use on the Martian landscape for protection.

“Cliffsides or lava tubes would provide additional shielding for an astronaut from such an event. In Mars orbit or deep space, the dose rate would be significantly more,” said RAD’s principal investigator, Don Hassler of Southwest Research Institute’s Solar System Science and Exploration Division in Boulder, Colorado. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this active region on the Sun continues to erupt, meaning even more solar storms at both Earth and Mars over the coming weeks.”

During the May 20 event, so much energy from the storm struck the surface that black-and-white images from Curiosity’s navigation cameras danced with “snow” — white streaks and specks caused by charged particles hitting the cameras.

Similarly, the star camera NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter uses for orientation was inundated with energy from solar particles, momentarily going out. (Odyssey has other ways to orient itself, and recovered the camera within an hour.) Even with the brief lapse in its star camera, the orbiter collected vital data on X-rays, gamma rays, and charged particles using its High-Energy Neutron Detector.

This wasn’t Odyssey’s first brush with a solar flare: In 2003, solar particles from a solar flare that was ultimately estimated to be an X45 fried Odyssey’s radiation detector, which was designed to measure such events.


Auroras Over Mars
High above Curiosity, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) orbiter captured another effect of the recent solar activity: glowing auroras over the planet. The way these auroras occur is different than those seen on Earth.

Our home planet is shielded from charged particles by a robust magnetic field, which normally limits auroras to regions near the poles. (Solar maximum is the reason behind the recent auroras seen as far south as Alabama.) Mars lost its internally generated magnetic field in the ancient past, so there’s no protection from the barrage of energetic particles. When charged particles hit the Martian atmosphere, it results in auroras that engulf the entire planet.

During solar events, the Sun releases a wide range of energetic particles. Only the most energetic can reach the surface to be measured by RAD. Slightly less energetic particles, those that cause auroras, are sensed by MAVEN’s Solar Energetic Particle instrument.

Scientists can use that instrument’s data to rebuild a timeline of each minute as the solar particles screamed past, meticulously teasing apart how the event evolved.

“This was the largest solar energetic particle event that MAVEN has ever seen,” said MAVEN Space Weather Lead, Christina Lee of the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. “There have been several solar events in past weeks, so we were seeing wave after wave of particles hitting Mars.”

New Spacecraft to Mars
The data coming in from NASA’s spacecraft won’t only help future planetary missions to the Red Planet. It’s contributing to a wealth of information being gathered by the agency’s other heliophysics missions, including Voyager, Parker Solar Probe, and the forthcoming ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission.

Targeting a late-2024 launch, ESCAPADE’s twin small satellites will orbit Mars and observe space weather from a unique dual perspective that is more detailed than what MAVEN can currently measure alone.

More About the Missions
Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. LASP is also responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support. The MAVEN team is preparing to celebrate the spacecraft’s 10th year at Mars in September 2024.

June 11, 2024 @ 09:40 UTC
As expected, the edge of a CME passed Earth on Monday, but the impact was fairly weak and did not generate a geomagnetic storm. As of this update, no other plasma clouds are expected to pass our planet so the geomagnetic field should return to quieter levels over the next few days.

June 12, 2024 @ 09:20 UTC
Based on imagery by SDO, something exploded behind the west limb beginning around 22:30 UTC (Jun 11). This generated a massive, full halo coronal mass ejection (CME) that is directed away from Earth. Protons blasted away from the Sun following this event are still finding their way past Earth, but the levels currently sit just below the minor (S1) radiation storm threshold. The source of the eruption was likely AR 3697 (3664).

June 13, 2024 @ 10:00 UTC
Earth facing solar activity during the past 24 hours was at moderate levels with a number of minor C-Flares and one low level M-Flare detected. A few more farsided coronal mass ejections were observed, including a faint halo CME just after 23:00 UTC (Jun 12). Needless to say, the chances for noteworthy solar flares declined with AR 3697 moving further beyond the west limb. With that said, AR 3712 in the southeast quadrant has been slowly developing and will be monitored as it rotates into a better Earth facing position.

They talk about the storms/sun/etc.  Not real in-depth though.

June 14, 2024 @ 17:40 UTC
Hello again folks. Solar activity during the past 24 hours was moderate with the majority of detectable solar flares being centered around AR 3712 in the southeast quadrant. The active region produced an M2.4 flare at 04:32 UTC (Jun 14), along with several minor C-Flares today so far. There is a 35% chance for another M-Flare during the next 24 hours according to the latest NOAA/SWPC update. No Earth directed eruptions were observed in coronagraph imagery today.
Stay tuned to SolarHam.com for the latest space weather news and information.

June 15, 2024 @ 11:20 UTC (UPDATED)
An incoming shock passage was just detected by the ACE spacecraft at 11:03 UTC (Jun 15). The solar wind increased from 370 km/s to 440 km/s, and more interestingly, the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) shifted south to beyond -11 nT. A passage past our planet is expected within the next 45 minutes.
CME Impact: A CME passed Earth at 11:57 UTC (Jun 15th). A minor (G1) geomagnetic storm is currently in progress.

ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 5
Threshold Reached: 2024 Jun 15 1329 UTC
Synoptic Period: 1200-1500 UTC
Active Warning: Yes
NOAA Scale: G1 - Minor

SUMMARY: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse
Observed: 2024 Jun 15 1157 UTC
Deviation: 27 nT
Station: HAD

June 16, 2024 @ 16:30 UTC
Solar activity so far on Sunday has been at low levels. A number of mid level C-Flares were observed during the past 6 hours with much of the activity produced exclusively by AR 3712 in the southeast quadrant. Moderate M-Flares will remain a possibility as the sunspot region now almost directly faces Earth.

Farsided CME
June 17, 2024 @ 14:30 UTC
An asymmetric halo CME is seen leaving the Sun this morning just after 08:00 UTC (Jun 17). It appears that this is related to activity on the farside of the Sun and is not Earth directed. One can only wonder if our old friend AR 3664 is up to old tricks again.

Second CME: This is not a replay of my previous post from this morning, but a second coronal mass ejection (CME) is seen leaving the farside of the Sun around 11:00 UTC (Jun 17). This one appears to be more northerly directed, but again because it is farsided, it will be directed away from Earth.

I find all of this fascinating.

June 18, 2024 @ 19:55 UTC
Another day, more coronal mass ejections leaving the Sun. Although most appear to be farsided, a filament eruption in the northern hemisphere beginning around 16:15 UTC (Jun 18) did generate a CME as well. Due to the high latitude location of this event, it should be directed mostly away from our planet. A further update will be provided if necessary.
Solar activity continues at moderate levels on Tuesday with two low level M-Flares detected around AR 3712 in the southern hemisphere.

Stay tuned to SolarHam.com for the latest space weather news and information.

June 19, 2024 @ 09:40 UTC
AR 3713 in the southwest quadrant showed rapid development during the past 12 hours. That region along with AR 3712 will both be a threat for moderate M-Flares during the next 24 hours.

Come on Sol quit edging me. Just HAWK TUAH an X10 our way.

June 20, 2024 @ 21:20 UTC
It is now officially summer here in the northern hemisphere and also the longest day of the year in terms of sunlight. The Earth's tilt is now at its maximum towards the Sun, whereas it is opposite in the southern hemisphere and the first day of winter.
Solar activity so far on Thursday has been considered moderate with multiple C-Flares and one low level M-Flare detected. Much of this activity was centered around AR 3716, 3719 and 3720. Despite their size, regions AR 3712 and 3713 in the southwest quadrant have been for the most part stable.

Stay tuned to SolarHam.com for the latest space weather news and information.

June 22, 2024 @ 00:30 UTC
A large eruption of plasma was just observed from behind the east limb beginning at 23:30 UTC (Jun 21). Because this event took place off the limb, the resulting coronal mass ejection will be directed away from our planet.

Is that big? Because that looks big.

Hawk tuah.  Lol

From the 20th...

I would have had a cooler environmental shot of this with some passing clouds, but I still mistakenly had autofocus engaged when I tried to trigger the shutter.  Zoom, zoom, blurrrrrrrrr.

With solar glasses this complex of sunspots was just large enough to discern without magnification.  

June 23, 2024 @ 09:30 UTC
Now back for the third time, AR 3664 (3697) is returning into view from off the farside of the Sun. This region was first assigned 3664 on May 1st and would go on to produce non stop X-Flares and the resulting eruptions were responsible for the extreme geomagnetic storm on May 10-11. It would reappear again on May 28th and was reassigned AR 3697 and would produce additional major solar flares. What will it have in store for us this time around? Stay tuned to find out.

Round 3 begins!


June 23, 2024 @ 14:50 UTC
Is our old pal AR 3664 (3697 and now 3723) still active?
Of course it is. A near X-Flare (M9.3) was detected at 13:01 UTC (Jun 23). The flare itself was fairly rapid, so a coronal mass ejection (CME) is likely not associated. We will get a better at the returning flare champion over the next few days.

June 25, 2024 @ 21:05 UTC
Solar activity so far on Tuesday has been at moderate levels with at least one low level M-Flare detected and a number of minor C-Flares. New regions 3727 and 3728 were assigned are in fairly close proximity to the remains of old AR 3664 (now 3723). Moderate activity could continue over the next 24 hours with a very low chance (5%) for a strong X-Flare.
Another bright CME was observed for the second day in a row off the west limb. The latest event is again directed away from our planet. See comments for video of that event.

June 28, 2024 @ 02:00 UTC
The Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) which is carried past Earth via the solar wind, has been pointing south the past few hours (-10nT). Active (Kp4) geomagnetic conditions will be likely with a chance for minor (G1) geomagnetic storming in the hours ahead. Aurora sky watchers at high latitudes should be alert should local light and weather conditions allow.
WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 5 expected
Valid From: 2024 Jun 28 0150 UTC
Valid To: 2024 Jun 28 0600 UTC
Warning Condition: Onset
NOAA Scale: G1 - Minor

June 28, 2024 @ 10:20 UTC
A edge of a coronal mass ejection (CME) observed leaving the Sun on June 25th has been detected and will soon pass our planet. The Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) shifted sharply south (-18nT). A geomagnetic storm watch remains in effect.



WARNING: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse expected
Valid From: 2024 Jun 28 1005 UTC
Valid To: 2024 Jun 28 1035 UTC
IP Shock Passage Observed: 2024 Jun 28 0912 UTC