Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, October 24, 2020.
The sky was generally clear with intermittent moderate breeze which provided good transparency but average seeing at the time these images were taken.
The lone visible sunspot group AR2776 (Modified Zurich/Mcintosh sunspot configuration: Hsx/alpha) has remained generally magnetically stable and inactive while experienced very little to indistinguishable structure change in its leader spot while approaching the southwestern limb over the past 24 hours. On the other hand, the small enhanced active region which emerged at the Sun’s northern hemisphere (encircled) is yet to be designated as a new formal sunspot group due to inconsistencies in its structural development over the past 24 hours, though a single spot is definitely visible. The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 12. Other noteworthy solar features observed were some small quiescent prominences at the limbs, together with as distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery. NOAA-SWPC noted that the large prominence seen at the northwestern limb for the past 2 days has erupted.
Space weather agencies* forecast solar activity to be at very low levels with chances of weak X-ray fluxes or flares up to B-class intensity, mainly from AR2776. 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 QHYCCD290III 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 (5:00 PM – 5:25 PM, October 24, 2020, from NCM Al Wathba Station):
Average Temperature: 34.07°C
Average Humidity: 12%
Average Wind Speed and Direction: 14.63 kph from a general northerly direction
Average Cloud Cover: 0%
Average Air Pressure:1000.933 hPa
Average Solar Radiation: 53.33 W/m^2
