2022 Solar Viewing

[Christopher K.]

There are now seven Active Regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun. ARs 2979 and 2980 aren't contributing too much visually--yet. The main attraction, however, are 2976 and 2978. They are not massive, but they are close to it. Combined with the plage, this is extensive activity.

AR 2975 has exploded over a dozen times in the past twenty-four hours. One released coronal mass ejection is predicted to hit Earth' magnetic field Thursday, with a second CME (maybe even a third) arriving Friday.

HRPO personnel are expanding the solar viewing during Nano Days this Saturday; it will now run from 3pm to 5:30pm. However, anyone has his own safety equipment and wants to increase the likelihood of seeing all the good stuff should attempt a viewing within the next thirty-six hours.

Current image of the Sun:
https://www.spaceweather.com/images2022 ... mi1898.gif

An image of AR 2975 from David Marshall in Barbados:
https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_u ... _id=183324

[Christopher K.]

Below is the NOAA forecast for HRPO's planned viewing time of 3pm to 5:30pm...
precipitation potential, 0%
sky cover, 14%
relative humidity, 49%
temperature, 25˚C
surface wind, E 11 km/h
Danko's Clear Dark Sky states that during HRPO's viewing time the transparency rating will be "above average" (4 out of 5) and the seeing rating will be "average" (3 out of 5).

The 2 April 2022 day rating is...
EXCELLENT
VERY GOOD
GOOD
FAIR
POOR
BAD

[Christopher K.]

There are currently three Active Regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun. AR 2988 isn't contributing too much visually--yet. The main attractions are 2989 and 2990. They are rotating into view and may spawn sizable visual activity.

There was G1 and G2 activity in the past thirty hours, and G1 and G2 activity predicted for the next thirty hours. Anyone who has his own safety equipment and wants to increase the likelihood of seeing potential good stuff should attempt a viewing within the next thirty-six hours.

Current image of the Sun:
https://www.spaceweather.com/images2022 ... mi1898.gif

An H-alpha image of the Sun from Howard Eskildsen in Florida:
https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_u ... _id=183730

[Christopher K.]

There are now four Active Regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun. AR 2991 is one tiny sunspot. The main attractions are ARs 2993 and 2994, which are very close together. The three main sunspots there are fairly massive, with a string of tiny sunspots between them. AR 2995 is currently rotating into view.

Although it's been virtually overcast at HRPO, Amy Northrop obtained visual confirmation of 2993 and 2994 with a Sunspotter; this device has a fixed magnification of 56x. Due to this confirmation and the Level 3 Radio Blackout conditions experienced in the past twenty-four hours, HRPO personnel will conduct a special solar viewing session on Saturday 23 April from 1pm to 3pm. However, anyone has his own safety equipment and wants to increase the likelihood of seeing all the good stuff should attempt a viewing within the next forty-eight hours.

Current image of the Sun:
https://www.spaceweather.com/images2022 ... mi1898.gif

An image of ARs 2993, 2994 and 2995 from Maximilian Teodorescu in Romania:
https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_u ... _id=183958

[Christopher K.]

Below is the NOAA forecast for HRPO's planned viewing time of 1pm to 3pm...
precipitation potential, 4%
sky cover, 44%
relative humidity, 62%
temperature, 29˚C
surface wind, S 16 km/h
Danko's Clear Dark Sky states that during HRPO's viewing time both the transparency rating and the seeing rating will be "average" (3 out of 5).

The 23 April 2022 day rating is...
EXCELLENT
VERY GOOD
GOOD
FAIR
POOR
BAD

[Christopher K.]

There are now four Active Regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun. ARs 3006, 3008 and 3009 each have from three to five noticeable spots, with 3006 occupying the most surface area and having the largest sunspot.

The main attraction is AR 3007. The Sun is about 1.39 million kilometers across at the equator, and 3007 (by my rough calculations) spans about ten percent of a comparable distance. Four medium-sized spots, two sharing a transition zone, together with about thirteen small and tiny specks.

Sadly it has been mostly cloudy at HRPO this afternoon and so personnel cannot confirm visuals with equipment there.

Current image of the Sun:
https://www.spaceweather.com/images2022 ... mi1898.gif

[Christopher K.]

There are now five Active Regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun. AR 3076 has little to offer visually. ARs 3074 and 3079 are islands of darks among widespread reefs of plage. 3081 is very nice, and 3078 is huge. This is moderate activity. (AR 3078 produced an M5 x-ray flare at 2:58am this morning local Daylight Time.)

I viewed and sketching at 46.1x through an Orion Skyquest Dobsonian six-inch. I saw 3078 and 3081 will no difficulty.

HRPO personnel are programming a special solar viewing on Tuesday 23 August from 11am to 1pm. However, anyone who has his own safety equipment and wants to increase the likelihood of seeing all the good stuff should attempt a viewing within the next seventy-two hours. (If you observe today, do not stay out for more than fifteen minutes as there is a NOAA Heat Advisory until 7pm.)

Current image of the Sun:
https://www.spaceweather.com/images2022 ... mi1898.gif

More information:
https://www.spaceweather.gov/news/16-au ... 2-sunspots

[Christopher K.]

The next two planned solar viewing sessions at HRPO are Saturday 24 September and Saturday 1 October, 12pm to 2pm both days.

There are currently four Active Regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun:
*AR 3098, currently rotating out of view.
*AR 3100, a single but fairly sizable and defined sunspot.
*AR 3102, two large prominent spots with nearby plage.
*AR 3103, a cluster of mostly small spots, with one at the end noticeably darker.

[Christopher K.]

As of this posting there are five Active Regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun, many of which I saw while assisting with a morning field trip at HRPO:
*AR 3102, the previous description of which still is accurate.
*AR 3105, the largest and most complex region at this time. 3105 has two magnificent spots, each with broken dark centers, with three medium and a few small spots between them.
*AR 3106, nothing visual to see.
*AR 3107, an admirable spot with dark center surrounding by and followed by a lot of bright plage.
*AR 3108, a small spot (almost all dark center) and tiny spot.
There are also three small spots forming an equilateral triangle in the center of the Sun's disk. They have no AR designation.

Try to see this activity within the next twenty-four hours.

Current image of the Sun:
https://www.spaceweather.com/images2022 ... mi1898.gif

[Christopher K.]

As of this posting there are seven Active Regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun, many of which I saw while sketching from :
*AR 3110, on far limb rotating away, nothing to see.
*AR 3111, a solitary medium-sized well-defined spot in upper right quarter.
*AR 3112, huge complex in upper left corner with a flanking large chain and medium spot.
*AR 3113, dark area almost completely rotated out of view with barely visible plage.
*AR 3115, six spots in lower right quarter, two tiny and one medium.
*AR 3116, broken chains above AR 3112, the leftmost sizable.
*AR 3117, a single small but dark spot left of AR 3115.

There are scattered patches of plage rotating into view. They have no AR designations.

From 12:22pm to 12:35pm CDT I sketched. I saw all ARs except 3110 and 3113.

Current image of the Sun:
https://www.spaceweather.com/images2022 ... mi1898.gif