Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, February 16, 2018.

The sky was clear with intermittent light to moderate winds making the seeing and transparency average at the time these images were taken.

The lone visible sunspot group AR2699 has decayed further in sunspot structure and has been inactive as it approaches the western limb. No significant flaring activity associated with this active region was recorded over the past 24 hours. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 12.  Few small filaments and eruptive prominences at the western limbs were distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery.

With this stance, space weather agencies* expect a further decline in solar activity at very low levels in the next few days as AR2699 departs from Earth-view. The extent of the frequency and intensity of the Sun’s activity will highly depend on the magnetic flux fluctuations happening in the visible ARs in the coming days. Close monitoring is being conducted by numerous space weather agencies for any significant development.

*Technical reports courtesy of Solar Influence Data Center (SIDC), NOAA-Space Weather Prediction Center (NOAA-SWPC)