SUNSPOT MONITORING – DECEMBER 31, 2020

Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, December 31, 2020.

The sky was mostly clear with intermittent light breeze which provided good transparency and seeing at the time these images were taken.

AR2794 (Modified Zurich/Mcintosh sunspot configuration: Hsx/alpha) has remained generally stable with no distinguishable change in its huge unipolar sunspot structure. On the other hand, AR2785 (Cro/beta) experienced slight decay in its intermediate spots. No significant flaring activity was recorded over the past 24 hours. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 26.

Other solar features observed were several huge eruptive prominence activities at the limbs, scattered enhanced plages associated with AR2794 and AR2795, and short stable filaments across the Sun’s southern hemisphere, as distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery.

Space weather agencies* forecast solar activity to be at very low levels with chances of solar flares of B-class intensity, mainly from AR2794 and AR2785. 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 (4:30 PM – 5:00 PM, December 31, 2020, from NCM Al Wathba Station):

Average Temperature: 25.73°C

Average Humidity: 30.33%

Average Wind Speed and Direction: 4.33 kph from various directions

Average Cloud Cover: 10%

Average Air Pressure: 1006.33hPa

Average Solar Radiation: 124.67 W/m^2

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Al Sadeem Astronomy is a privately-owned company registered in The Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) that aims to make astronomy accessible to everyone.