August 31st, More M-Class Flares Coming?

The above image was taken August 30th at 12:11:00 UTC by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), at 94 Angstroms, aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). This was the time of the M1 solar flare produced by an undesignated region on the southeast limb. Image Credit: SDO/AIA

For the end of August 29th and most of the 30th, the solar activity was moderate. A region around the east limb produced an M1 solar flare on the 30th at 12:11 UTC, along with multiple C-class flares. No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed. And two new active regions were designated: AR 1562 and AR 1563. The forecast through September 2nd: The solar activity level is expected to be low with a chance for moderate activity.

At home, the geomagnetic field was at mostly quiet levels. The forecast through September 2nd: The geomagnetic field for the 31st and the 1st is expected to range from quiet to unsettled, with a chance for minor to major storm levels at high latitudes. This is due to the effects of a coronal hole high-speed stream. On the 2nd, activity is expected to return to mostly quiet levels with a slight chance for active to minor storm levels at high latitudes. 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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