Here are today’s solar images taken from Al Sadeem Observatory, September 11, 2021.
The sky was partly cloudy with slight haze and moderate breeze which provided average to poor transparency and seeing at the time these images were taken.
A further decrease in solar activity was observed over the past 24 hours with 4 active regions currently visible. AR2863 has recently departed from Earth-view; now behind the SW limb. AR2864 (Bxo/beta) developed a single pore at its trailer but remained generally inactive as it approaches the NW limb.
Gradual spot shrinkage and structural decay were observed at trailer sections of sunspot groups AR2869 (Cao/beta), AR2866 (Dkc/beta), and AR2868 (Dki/beta). The only noteworthy solar activity recorded by space weather agencies (particularly NOAA-SWPC) throughout the monitoring period was a C1.0-class flare produced by AR2868; occurred late yesterday evening (Sept 10).
The latest sunspot number (based on visual count and Wolf number calculation) is 72.
Other solar features observed were scattered enhanced plages along the trailer section associated with the upper-mentioned sunspot groups, some elongated eruptive filaments at the northern hemisphere, and some huge ejecting prominences at the NE limb, as distinctively captured in H-alpha imagery.
Space weather agencies* expect low solar activity to persist (though a slight decrease expected) with the likelihood of B-class to C-class solar flares in the next few days, mainly from large sunspot groups AR2866 and AR2868. 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 (5:00 PM – 5:30 PM, September 11, 2021, from NCM Al Wathba Station):
Average Temperature: 39.47°C
Average Humidity: 37.0%
Average Wind Speed and Direction: 26.53 kph from WNW
Average Cloud Cover: 55%
Average Air Pressure: 997.0 hPa
Average Solar Radiation: 128.33 W/m^2
