Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, March 9, 2020.

The sky was slightly hazy with moderate winds which provided average seeing and transparency at the time these images were taken.

The newly designated AR2758 (Modified Zurich/Mcintosh sunspot configuration: Cro/beta) at the southeastern quadrant has Solar Cycle 25 reverse magnetic polarity. Because of its current small structure despite rudimentary penumbral development, it is considered not a threat of any powerful flaring at this point. No significant flaring activity was recorded. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 12.  A couple of huge eruptive prominences at the northwestern limb(all non-Earth directed), as well as the associated elongated enhanced plage of AR2758, were distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery.

Space weather agencies* forecast solar activity to remain at very low levels with chances of weak X-ray fluxes or flares ranging up to B-class intensity, mainly from AR2758. 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 and Lunt H-alpha solar telescope and QHYCCDIII mono camera for H-alpha imagery, mounted on Skywatcher EQ6 Pro. 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 (4:55 PM – 5:15 PM, March 9, 2020, from NCM Al Wathba Station):

Average Temperature: 24.4°C

Average Humidity: 43.5%

Average Wind Speed and Direction: 19.25 kph from NNW

Average Cloud Cover: 5% (mostly haze)

Average Air Pressure: 1002.1 hPa

Average Solar Radiation: 164.5 W/m^2

Average UV Radiation: — µW/m^2