Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, May 13, 2019.
The sky was clear with intermittent light to moderate winds which provided good transparency but average seeing at the time these images were taken.
Further trailer spot decay and leader spot shrinkage were observed in AR2740 (Modified Zurich/Mcintosh sunspot configuration: Crx/alpha). On the other hand, AR2741 (Hhx/alpha) retained its huge dissected main spot. Both sunspot groups were stable and no significant flaring activity was recorded. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 23. Few huge eruptive prominences at the opposite (northwestern and southeastern) limbs, together with the well-defined scattered plages with stable filaments near the active sunspot regions were distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery.
Space weather agencies* forecast a further decline of solar activity into very low levels with chances of weak X-ray fluxes or flares ranging between B-class and C-class intensity. 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.
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 ZWO120MM CMOS 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 (5:25 PM – 5:45 PM, May 13, 2019):
Average Temperature: 33.9°C
Average Humidity: 22%
Average Wind Speed and Direction: 25.75 kph from NW
Average Cloud Cover: 0%
Average Air Pressure: 996.85 hpa
Average Solar Radiation: 140.27 W/m^2
Average UV Radiation: 99 µW/m^2 (low)
