Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, April 12, 2021.
The sky was mostly clear with intermittent moderate breeze which provided good transparency but average seeing at the time these images were taken.Â
A new small sunspot group (currently undesignated) possessing a bipolar (Bxo/beta) magnetic configuration has emerged at the Sun’s southeastern quadrant. No significant flaring activity was recorded. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 14.
Other notable solar features observed were the enhanced plage associated with the newly emerged sunspot region, as well as several huge eruptive prominences especially at the limbs, as distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery.
Space weather agencies* forecast solar activity to be at low levels with chances of solar flares of up to B-class (possibly up to isolated C-class) intensity, mainly from this new sunspot region. 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 (4:35 PM – 5:00 PM, April 12, 2021, from NCM Al Wathba Station):
Average Temperature: 40.0°C
Average Humidity: 8.67%
Average Wind Speed and Direction: 6.0 kph from NNW
Average Cloud Cover: 0%
Average Air Pressure: 999.53 hPa
Average Solar Radiation: 319.33 W/m^2
