SUNSPOT MONITORING – NOVEMBER 4, 2020

Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, November 4, 2020.

The sky was generally clear with light to moderate winds which provided good transparency but average seeing at the time these images were taken.

AR2780 had lost most of its sunspot structure with only a few remaining tiny pores and was overall inactive. Meanwhile, we have a clearer view of AR2781 (Modified Zurich/Mcintosh sunspot configuration: Ehi/beta) after it rotated further; possessing a much larger and complex sunspot structure and gradually growing. Few isolated C-class solar flares were recorded by space weather agencies over the past 24 hours. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 34. Several moderately huge eruptive prominences at the limbs, short stable filaments, and small scattered enhanced plages associated with the upper-mentioned sunspot groups were distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery.

Space weather agencies* forecast solar activity to be at low levels with chances of B-class to C-class (possibly up to isolated M-class) solar flare intensity, mainly from AR2781. 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 QHYCCD290III 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 (4:30 PM – 5:00 PM, November 4, 2020, from NCM Al Wathba Station):

Average Temperature: 30.73°C

Average Humidity: 34.0%

Average Wind Speed and Direction: 19.93 kph from NNW

Average Cloud Cover: 0%

Average Air Pressure: 1003.1 hPa

Average Solar Radiation: 106.33 W/m^2

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