Auroras seen around parts of the Arctic Circle
Earth passed through a minor solar wind stream on Feb. 4-5. The weak impact of the solar wind was just enough to spark auroras around parts of the Arctic Circle. The effects of the solar wind are subsiding, and the auroras might disappear into the moonlight for the next few nights. Geomagnetic activity is expected to hover at low levels for the next 48 hours according to Spaceweather.
CURRENT CONDITIONS:
Solar wind
speed: 406.3 km/sec
density: 1.0 protons/cm3
The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 107 sfu
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3 quiet
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.1 nT
Bz: 1.0 nT north
Sun stays quiet today. All of the sunspots on the Earthside of the sun are magnetically simple and quiet, and the sun’s X-ray output has consequently flatlined. NOAA forecasters estimate the chance of significant flares today to be no more than 1%.
Sunspots 1410 and 1413 remain stable as they rotate towards the northwest limb. A small new sunspot formed at mid latitude and was numbered 1414. This regions already looks to be fading away.
Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity (05 Feb 2012)
Solar activity was at very low levels. The disk and limb was quiet and stable with no Earth-directed CMEs detected. Solar activity is expected to be very low with a chance for C-class activity for the next three days (06 – 08 February).
The geomagnetic field was at quiet to unsettled levels with an isolated high latitude active period. ACE satellite wind speeds were steady between 400 to 450 km/s while the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field did not vary beyond +/- 4 nT. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at mostly quiet levels for the next three days (06 – 08 February).
Featured image: Frank Olsen from the waterfront outside Tromsø, Norway
Absolutely fascinating.