More on August 11th M1-Class Flare!

First, we have a 2-minute 3-second video containing images of the August 11th M1-class solar flare. The collection of images were made by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), organized by www.solarmonitor.org and www.helioviewer.org, and posted to YouTube by contributor "galaxy387."

CLICK HERE to see the video.

Second, we have more information on the flare. the M1-class flare, produced by Active Region 1540 (AR 1540), began at 11:55 UTC, peaked 12:20, and ended at 12:57 UTC. The flare produced a faint coronal mass ejection (CME). But because AR 1540 has moved sufficiently passed the direction of Earth, the plasma cloud will probably not affect Earth.

Finally, an update on the Sun-Earth forecast: The solar activity is expected to be low. But there is a slight chance for an M-class flare.

Earth's geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled, with a slight chance for an active period, for August 13th-14th before becoming mostly quiet on August 15th. The increased activity on the 13th and 14th is expected from the influence of a weak high speed stream. Stay tuned...

To monitor solar flare activity minute by minute, visit the "Today's Space Weather" page of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, URL: www.swpc.noaa.gov .

To learn more about the Sun and to stay current on solar activity, visit the mission home pages of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov .

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