No sunspot monitoring posts were issued from August 21-23, 2021, due to other important observatory-related errands conducted at the proposed observation time.
Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, August 24, 2021.
The sky was mostly clear with light breeze which provided good transparency and seeing at the time these images were taken.
The lone visible sunspot group AR2859 (Cao/beta), designated last August 22, exhibited slight decay in its intermediate and trailer spots but has been the source of multiple non-Earth-directed C-class solar flares over the past few days. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 12.
Small enhanced plages associated with AR2859 and another one emerging at the far SE quadrant, several short stable filaments across the Sun’s disk, and few tiny quiescent prominences at the NW and SW limbs were the other solar features distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery.
Space weather agencies* forecast low solar activity with chances of B-class to C-class solar flares in the next few days, mainly from AR2859. Close monitoring is being conducted by numerous space weather agencies for any significant development.
Equipment used are Skywatcher 120mm refractor telescope with Baader filter and unmodified Canon EOS 1D Mark IV DSLR camera for visible imagery. For H-alpha imagery, the equipment used are Lunt 60mm H-alpha solar telescope, and QHYCCD 290III mono camera; all mounted on Skywatcher EQ6 pro mount Pre-processing of visible solar images was performed in PIPP, stacking in Autostakkert, slight wavelet adjustments in Registax 6, and post-processing in Adobe Photoshop CC.
*TECHNICAL REPORTS COURTESY OF SOLAR INFLUENCE DATA CENTER (SIDC), NOAA-SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER (NOAA-SWPC)
Weather Data (5:30 PM – 6:00 PM, August 24, 2021, from NCM Al Wathba Station):
Average Temperature: 43.37°C
Average Humidity: 17.67%
Average Wind Speed and Direction: 4.47 kph from easterly direction
Average Cloud Cover: 5%
Average Air Pressure: 1000.0 hPa
Average Solar Radiation: 110.0 W/m^2
