August 23, Same Song, Next Verse...

The above image was taken August 22nd at 16:58 UTC by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), at 94 Angstroms, aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The B6-class solar flare produced at that time by Active Region 1548 (AR 1548) can be seen just to the left of center. Image Credit: SDO/AIA

For the end of August 21st and most of the 22nd, the solar activity was very low. Beginning at 20:24 on the 21st, SOHO's LASCO C2 coronagraph observed a full halo coronal mass ejection (CME), having an estimated plane-of-sky speed of 884 km/s. Observations by the STEREO-A and STEREO-B satellites showed this to be a back-sided CME, not expected to have any affect on Earth. On August 22nd at 09:30 UTC, SDO/AIA instrument, at 193 Angstroms, recorded a filament eruption near Active Region 1549 (AR 1549). And a CME was subsequently recorded by SOHO's LASCO/C2 coronograph at 10:12 UTC, and the LASCO/C3 coronograph recorded the CME at 11:18 UTC. Analysis is underway to determine whether this CME could affect Earth. The biggest comotion for the time period came from Active Region 1548 (AR 1548), which produced a B6 solar flare on August 22nd at 16:58 UTC. Forecast: The solar activity is expected to be very low with a slight chance for C-class flars through August 25th.

Earth's geophysical activity has ranged from quiet to unsettled. Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to be predominantly quiet through August 25th. 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).

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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