Solar Terrestrial Activity Report

Activity chart

Last major update issued on November 14, 2026 at 12:10 UT. Active region map to be updated

Charts (* = updated daily) Data and archive
  Solar wind (*) Solar and geomagnetic data - last month (*)
  Electron fluence (*) Archived daily reports and monthly data since 2003.01 (November 6, 2026)
Solar cycle Solar cycles 23-25 (November 1, 2026) Historical solar and geomagnetic data charts 1954-2006 (April 5, 2007)
  Cycle 24-25 progress (November 1, 2026) Noon SDO sunspot count 1K image / 4K (*)
  Solar cycles 1-24 (August 1, 2020) POES auroral activity level [October 2009 - December 2012]
  Comparison of cycles 21-25 (November 1, 2026) 3rd SSN Workshop, Tucson, 2013
  Comparison of cycles 12-14, 16, 24-25 (November 1, 2026) 4th SSN Workshop, Locarno, 2014
  Solar polar fields vs. solar cycles (December 21, 2025) Cycle 25 initial spots (final update December 25, 2019)
  Solar cycles 24-25 transition using 365d smoothing  

Recent activity

The geomagnetic field was very quiet. Solar wind speed at SOHO ranged between 389 and 458 km/sec, averaging 413 km/sec (-76 km/sec compared to the previous day). The high latitude magnetometer at Andenes was at very quiet levels. The above 10 MeV proton flux was at background levels all day.

Solar flux density measured at 20h UT on 2.8 GHz was 119.3 - decreasing 12.3 over the previous solar rotation.

The 365 day average solar flux at 1 AU was 129.02 (183 days ago). The 81 day average solar flux at 1 AU was 109.6 (41 days ago, this is 25.7% of the total SC25 solar flux range from the max 81 day average peak on September 4, 2024 at 227.3 and an average 81 day flux of 69 at solar minimum). SC25 365d peak: 195.9 on October 13, 2024.

The Potsdam WDC planetary A index was 3 (STAR Ap - based on the average of three hour interval ap indices: 2.8). Three hour interval K indices: 10110010 (planetary), 00112211 (Boulder), 00000001 (Andenes).

The background x-ray flux is at the class B5 level (GOES 19).

At the time of counting spots (see image time), spots were observed in 13 active regions using 2K resolution (SN: 233) and in 11 active regions using 1K resolution (SN: 161) SDO/HMI images.

AR 14566 [S09W77] decayed quickly and quietly.
AR 14568 [S08W52] decayed slowly and quietly.
AR 14572 [N12E17] developed slowly and quietly.
AR 14573 [N07E08] decayed slowly and quietly.
AR 14574 [N17E33] developed slowly and was mostly quiet.
AR 14575 [S09E39] developed slowly and quietly.
AR 14576 [S17W24] developed slowly and was mostly quiet. C1 flares: C1.0 @ 22:30 UT
New AR 14577 [S07E19] emerged on November 12 and developed slowly the next day when it was numbered by SWPC.
New AR 14578 [S11W19] emerged on November 12 and received its NOAA number the next day. The region developed slowly and produced a few C flares.  C1 flares: C1.1 @ 14:21, C1.5 @ 22:01 UT

Spotted regions not observed (or interpreted differently) by SWPC/USAF:
AR S12475 [N08W07] was quiet and stable.
New AR S12480 [N02E49] emerged with tiny spots.
New AR S12481 [N14E84] rotated into view with a large, mature spot. The region produced the largest flare of the day, and may be capable of M class flaring. C1 flares: C1.1 @ 17:40 UT
New AR S12482 [N12W47] emerged with a tiny spot.

C2+ flares

Magnitude Peak time (UT) Location Source Recorded by Comment
C5.5 18:21 northeast limb S12481 GOES18 LDE
C2.6 18:59   14578 GOES18  
C2.0 23:40   14578 GOES18  

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs)

November 11-13: No obviously Earth directed CMEs were observed.

Coronal holes

[Coronal hole history (since October 2002)]
[Compare today's report to the situation one solar rotation ago: 28 days ago 27 days ago 26 days ago]

A recurrent southern hemisphere positive polarity coronal hole (CH1411) will be Earth facing on November 13-14.

Forecast

The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet on November 13-15. Quiet to active levels are possible on November 16-17 due to effects associated with CH1411.

Coronal holes (1) Coronal mass ejections (2) M and X class flares (3)
     

1) Effects from a coronal hole could reach Earth within the next 5 days. When the high speed stream has arrived the color changes to green.
2) Effects from a CME are likely to be observed at Earth within 96 hours.
3) There is a possibility of either M or X class flares within the next 48 hours.

Green: 0-30% probability, Yellow: 30-70% probability, Red: 70-100% probability.

Active solar regions



(Click on image for 2K resolution). 4K resolution. Compare to the previous day's image.
0.5K image

When available the active region map has a coronal hole polarity overlay where red (pink) is negative and blue is positive.

Data for all officially numbered solar regions according to the Solar Region Summary provided by NOAA/SWPC, all other regions are numbered sequentially as they emerge using the STAR spot number. Comments are my own, as is the STAR spot count (spots observed at or inside a few hours before midnight) and data for regions not numbered by SWPC or where SWPC has observed no spots. SWPC active region numbers in the table below and in the active region map above are the historic SWPC/USAF numbers. SWPC data considered to be not sufficiently precise (location, area, classification) are colored red.

Active region SWPC date numbered
STAR detected
Spot count Location at midnight Area Classification SDO / HMI 4K continuum
image with magnetic polarity overlays
Comment
SWPC/
USAF
STAR SWPC STAR Current Previous
2K 1K
14566 2026.11.01
2026.11.02
24 16 8 S08W62 0240 EAI EAO was AR S12450

location: S09W64

area: 0100

SWPC spot count is much higher than expected

S12456 2026.11.02       N05W49            
14568 2026.11.03
2026.11.05
4 6 2 S09W42 0030 CSO CAO was AR S12457

location: S09W38

14570 2026.11.05
2026.11.06
      S09W33           was AR S12459

location: S09W38

S12460 2026.11.05       S21W34            
S12463 2026.11.05       N17W45          
14569 2026.11.06       S06W74            
S12465 2026.11.07       N06W07            
S12466 2026.11.07       S04W01            
S12467 2026.11.07   5   S08W13 0006   BXO split off the southern section into AR 14576 on 2026.11.12
14572 2026.11.08
2026.11.09
2 7 2 N12E30 0030 HSX CRO was AR S12468

area: 0015

14573 2026.11.09
2026.11.10
3 6 4 N08E22 0010 BXO CRO was AR S12469

location: N08E19

14574 2026.11.10
2026.11.11
3 5 4 N16E47 0030 DRO DRO was AR S12470
14575 2026.11.10
2026.11.11
1 7 3 S09E52 0030 HSX CAO was AR S12471

area: 0080

S12473 2026.11.11       S12E12          
S12474 2026.11.11   1   S05W02 0002   AXX  
S12475 2026.11.11   9 3 N07E08 0020   BXO  
14576 2026.11.12
2026.11.12
8 15 7 S18W12 0010 BXO CRI   split off from AR S12467

area: 0030

location: S18W09

S12476 2026.11.12   8 5 S07E33 0025   CRO    
S12477 2026.11.12   10 5 S11W05 0020   BXI    
S12478 2026.11.12   2 1 N05W54 0004   BXO    
S12479 2026.11.12   3 1 N25E04 0005   BXO    
Total spot count: 45 100 45  
Sunspot number: 115 240 165  (total spot count + 10 * number of spotted regions)
Weighted SN: 68 130 75  (Sum of total spot count + classification weighting for each AR. Classification weighting: X=0, R=3, A/S=5, H/K=10)
Relative sunspot number (Wolf number): 115 120 124 (Effective 2026.09.19: SWPC adjustment changed from 1.1 to 1.0, STAR 2K adjustment changed from 0.55 to 0.5, STAR 1K adjustment changed from 0.8 to 0.75)

Monthly solar cycle data

Month Average solar flux International sunspot number
(WDC-SILSO)
Smoothed sunspot number (4) Average ap
(3)
Measured 1 AU
2024.05 187.7 191.9 172.1 149.1 (+4.6) 23.56
(SC25 peak)
2024.08  246.1
(SC25 peak)
252.2 216.0  (SC25 peak) 156.8 (+1.8) 15.96
2024.10 221.0 219.6 165.8 160.9 (+1.5) (SC25 solar max) 18.99
2025.08 154.9 158.7 133.7 118.4 (-4.1) 9.97
2025.09 154.4 156.0 129.7 113.1 (-5.3) 14.02
2025.10 139.5 138.6 114.6 108.5 (-4.6) 15.64
2025.11 140.3 137.3 91.7 106.9 (-1.6) 21.01
2025.12 160.8 155.8 124.0 107.0 (-0.1) 13.35
2026.01 148.7 144.0 115.0 104.1 (-2.9) 22.47
2026.02 136.4 133.1 77.4 99.7 (-4.4) 12.88
2026.03 131.0 129.7 86.6 94.4 (-5.3) 15.44
2026.04  120.0 120.9 79.0 88.6 (-5.8) 12.10
2026.05 125.4 128.2 101.8 (84.4 projected, -4.2) 9.80
2026.06 137.9 142.2 93.3 (80.3 projected, -4.1) 9.57
2026.07 134.7 139.0 78.1 (75.1 projected, -5.2) 10.16
2026.08 116.1 119.0 76.0 (71.7 projected, -3.4) 8.67
2026.09 105.0 106.1 60.3 (69.6 projected, -2.1) 7.54
2026.10 108.7 108.0 45.7 (67.6 projected, -2.0) 10.73
2026.11 117.8 (1)   32.0 (2A) / 80.1 (2B) / 69.7 (2C) (64.4 projected, -3.2) (10.1)
2026.12       (60.9 projected, -3.5)  
2027.01       (58.0 projected, -2.9)  
2027.02       (55.7 projected, -2.3)  
2027.03       (54.4 projected, -1.3)  
2027.04       (53.5 projected, -0.9)  

1) Running average based on the daily 20:00 UTC observed solar flux value at 2800 MHz and any corrections applied to that measurement.
2A) Current impact on the monthly sunspot number based on the Boulder (NOAA/SWPC) sunspot number (accumulated daily sunspots / month days).
2B) Boulder SN current month average to date.
2C) STAR SDO 1K Wolf number 27 day average.
3) Running average based on the quicklook and definitive Potsdam WDC ap indices. Values in red are based on the definitive international GFZ Potsdam WDC ap indices.
4) Source: WDC-SILSO, Royal Observatory Of Belgium, Brussels

Solar cycles 24-25

Smoothed SF and sunspot numbers

Update on the progress of solar cycle 25 as of March 2026

Solar activity appears to have exited the solar max phase as of February 2026 with a strong decrease in the number of sunspots observed. The northern polar field has weakened considerably over the last months, and although there is a chance the the field could recover over the next 1-2 years, there is an increasing chance that solar cycle 26 will be very weak. The southern polar field is not impressive either, however, a southern polar coronal hole has formed early in 2026 and appears to be growing.

All 365 day smoothed sunspot numbers reached a maximum on October 11-12, 2024
. This became the peak of SC25 (365 day smoothed peaks: STAR 1K: 236.1, STAR 2K: 364.3, NOAA SN: 156.0, ISN: 163.9), while the 365d smoothed solar flux peaked on October 13, 2024, just 1.7% below the SC23 peak, and 62.6% above the SC24 peak.

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This report has been prepared by Jan Alvestad. It is based on the analysis of data from whichever sources are available at the time the report is prepared. All time references are to Universal Time. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

SDO images are courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.