Solar Activity and Winter Observing

We could be going through Solar max now: 
 Latest graph: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/

The latest graph of sunspot count:

SUBSIDING STORM: Last night, Nov. 13/14, Northern Lights spilled across the Canadian border into the United States during a moderately strong (Kp=6) geomagnetic storm. Spotters report naked-eye auroras just barely over Colorado. Cal is always possible so keep looking up and North. Active Astro sites prove to be the best for catching aurora posts but this NOAA page gives you a Kp map - Click on North America:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Aurora/#kpmaps

Click to images to enlarge!

This Email alert can hedge you bets for solar flares and aurorae - I use it for h-alpha:
Real Time e-mail Solar Flare Alert: http://www.ips.gov.au/mailman/listinfo/ips-flare-alert  (see also http://www2.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraAlerts/ )

Solar Observing Nov 4th

Observe The Sun Safely - Never look at the Sun without a proper filter! 

Solar Programs are held 1st Sunday of every Month 2:00-4:00 PM at Houge Park  weather permitting

Take The Sunspot Quiz:

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/quizzes/sunspot_quiz_flash.html 

Solar Observing November 4th was sublime. Nice because the weather was perfect - cool temperature, clear skies and fair seeing. The Sunspot count was in the 40's with 4 sunspot pairs - two above the solar equator - two "mirror images" below. That was too neat to see :)

The symmetry of the Sun's magnetic field lines means that a sunspot pair which forms above the equator can equally likely form a mirror image below the equator - a negative ( -x , -y )  mirror image.

Sunspot generally form in pairs.

A sunspot pair can again be formed as a mirror image below the sun's equator because of the symmetry of the sun's magnetic field.

H-Alpha Prominences were large and notable all around the solar disk: hedge shape, spicule and branching tree shapes noted.

Folks we are a just a standard deviation from the solar cycle maximum. 

Happy Halloween

Lecture On The Sun

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 12:00pm

Climate Change: What's Going On With the Sun?

SETI Institute: 189 Bernardo Avenue #100, Mountain View

Watch online:
https://plus.google.com/events/csqif06cn5u5auhv7bbsigr471o 

Dan Lubin

SETI Institute

Throughout the past century, while greenhouse gas (GHG) abundances have been steadily increasing and influencing Earth’s climate, the Sun has remained relatively bright and quiescent. Solar cycles have been steadily active, with instantaneous sunspot numbers at solar maximum exceeding 100 in every cycle since 1893 (Cycle 13). The climate warming we have experienced since the beginning of the modern industrial era cannot be attributed to the Sun. However, the recent minimum between Cycles 23 and 24, and NASA predictions of a substantially lower sunspot number at the 2013 solar maximum, suggest that the Sun’s recent bright and quiescent period may be ending. Both autocorrelation studies of recent solar cycles, and studies of solar analogs in nearby field stars, suggest a >40% chance of the Sun entering a new Maunder Minimum sometime in the Twenty First Century. During the historical Maunder Minimum (1645-1715), meteorological data from Europe and proxy records from global oceans indicate a substantially cooler climate, attributable to decreased solar irradiance. In our lifetime, we may therefore see a period of solar dimming in conjunction with increasing GHG abundances. A new Maunder Minimum would not entirely offset the projected GHG-induced warming (the GHG radiative forcing is at least three times larger than best estimates of the solar irradiance decrease). Instead, the complex interactions between radiative balance and atmospheric dynamics yield unusual regional patterns of pronounced warming versus cooling. This seminar will address the physical basis of climate change in the context of both GHG and solar variability, and will also extend the discussion to the influence of stellar variability upon habitable zones.

October Sun 1x Visible Sunspots

OCTOBER 1st

Visible Sunspots over next couple of days!

Observe The Sun Safely - Never look at the Sun without a proper filter! 

Solar Programs are held 1st Sunday of every Month 2:00-4:00 PM at Houge Park  weather permitting

Sunspot or active region AR 1582 is a 1x spot. And so is AR 1579 which is just barely visible. Is it to the right or left? :)

Over next couple of days one will still need good eyes and a good solar filter to see these (and welding glass wont cut it). Solar glasses are good, Solar Cards better. 

Malika Carter: Sunspot image with her eyepiece projection system. Click photo to enlarge.

For those of you who have H-alpha scopes: Good prominences at limb particularly at ~5 O'clock refactor view -  prominence drapes over the photosphere creating a sinuous filament.

Clear Magnitude -26.73 skies Michael Packer

Shuttle Endeavour Flyover

Lots of folks gathered at NASA Aimes for the Flyover of Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Beautiful Day  - Beautiful spaceship. 

Flyover Video and Crowd Cam Here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/115436722413756146284/albums/5790716943897359409

 

Great Education and Outreach Booths:

Almaden Valley Art & Wine Festival

Observe The Sun Safely - Never look at the Sun without a proper filter! 

Solar Programs are held 1st Sunday of every Month 2:00-4:00 PM at Houge Park  weather permitting

Thousands of folks and families gathered for the 2012 Almaden Valley Art & Wine Festival sponsored by the Almaden Valley Women's Club. And For a couple of years now SJAA has been apart of the festival.

Below are some pics of SJAA at the event starting off with Ed Wong (Left) talking with a patron.

These two girls took time out from their practice for their dance show to see the surface of sun in H-alpha. That got the whole gang to come over and take a look.

Below, woman viewing our star and Rob Jaworski who organized SJAA's participation in the festival

 Very happy girl who got too see our sun and two sunspots

 It is always a good day when there are sunspots visible and H-Alpha flares. We had two sunspots and although we had prominences all around the solar disk, a decent sized one plus filament were also present.

Malika Carter below showing sunspots with her eyepiece projection system. 

Michael (left) Bill O'Neil (center) and a two very interested guys checking out Solar Prominences..

All in all a great day for SJAA outreach - thanks to all who helped!