C Flares Abound as AR 1564 Prepares to Depart...

The above image was taken September 10th at 23:56:00 UTC by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), at 94 Angstroms, aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). This was the time of the C6 flare produced by Active Region 1564 (AR 1564) near the southwest limb. Image Credit: SDO/AIA

For the end of September 10th and most of the 11th, the solar activity was at low levels.  Active Region 1564 (AR 1564) was the most active of the designated regions, with several C-class flares. The largest of these was a C6 flare on the 10th at 23:56 UTC. AR 1567 and AR 1569 also contributed to the C-class flare activity. AR 1567 decayed throughout this period. There were no Earth-directed CMEs. The forecast through September 14th: The solar activity is expected to be low with a chance for an isolated M-class flare on the 12th. And this M-class probability is expected to decrease for the the 13th and 14th as AR 1564 rotates out of view.

At home, the geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels. The forecast through September 14th: The geomagnetic activity is expected to be quiet with a slight chance for unsettled levels on the 12th and 13th. An increase to quiet to unsettled levels with a slight chance for an active period is expected on the 14th due to a favorably positioned coronal hole. Stay tuned...

To monitor solar flare activity minute by minute, visit the "Today's Space Weather" page of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (www.swpc.noaa.gov/today.html).

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), the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) (sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov), the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) (www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE), and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) (stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov).

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