Saturday, 4 June 2016 15:15 UTC
Our sun is spotless today. The NOAA SWPC reports that there are no numbered sunspot regions on the earth-facing side of the solar disk and that means our sun is devoid of sunspots for the first time since 18 July 2014. As a result, solar activity is at very low levels and the last registered solar flare took place three days ago!
A moderate G2 geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for later tonight and tomorrow as the NOAA SWPC expects a coronal hole solar wind stream to arrive and cause enhanced geomagnetic conditions up to a Kp of 6.
A coronal hole is facing Earth. Enhanced solar wind could arrive in ~3 days - Follow live on https://t.co/T1Jkf6i4Cb pic.twitter.com/9uP5h2KtbR
— SpaceWeatherLive (@_SpaceWeather_) 2 juni 2016
This solar wind stream comes from the exact same coronal hole that caused a strong G3 geomagnetic storm on 6 May. The solar wind stream has yet to arrive but we do not expect the same kind activity as last month as this coronal hole shrunk quite a bit. Even G2 conditions might be a bit too optimistic but we of course encourage you to keep an eye on the solar wind data to see how this event is going to unfold.
Thank you for reading this article! Did you have any trouble with the technical terms used in this article? Our help section is the place to be where you can find in-depth articles, a FAQ and a list with common abbreviations. Still puzzled? Just post on our forum where we will help you the best we can!
A lot of people come to SpaceWeatherLive to follow the Sun's activity or if there is aurora to be seen, but with more traffic comes higher server costs. Consider a donation if you enjoy SpaceWeatherLive so we can keep the website online!
Last X-flare | 2024/12/08 | X2.2 |
Last M-flare | 2024/12/23 | M1.0 |
Last geomagnetic storm | 2024/12/17 | Kp5+ (G1) |
Spotless days | |
---|---|
Last spotless day | 2022/06/08 |
Monthly mean Sunspot Number | |
---|---|
November 2024 | 152.5 -13.9 |
December 2024 | 106.6 -45.9 |
Last 30 days | 116.1 -41.8 |