SUNSPOT MONITORING – MARCH 5, 2021

Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, March 5, 2021.

The sky was slightly hazy (just before a brief dust storm occurred)with intermittent light to moderate breeze which provided average transparency and seeing at the time these images were taken. 

Continuous gradual structural decay is still evident in both small sunspot regions AR2806 (Modified Zurich/Mcintosh sunspot configuration: Axx/alpha) and AR2807 (Bxo/beta) over the past 24 hours. No significant flaring activities were recorded throughout the monitoring period. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 23.

Other noteworthy solar features observed were few short stable filaments across the solar surface and some moderately huge eruptive prominence at the opposite (SE and SW) limbs, together with the enhanced plages associated with AR2806 and AR2807, 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 up to B-class intensity mainly from the two upper-mentioned sunspot groups. 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, March 5, 2021, from NCM Al Wathba Station):

Average Temperature: 39.07°C

Average Humidity: 7.67%

Average Wind Speed and Direction: 10.57 kph from WNW

Average Cloud Cover: 10%

Average Air Pressure: 1002.67 hPa

Average Solar Radiation: 280.0 W/m^2

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