Solar Terrestrial Activity Report

Activity chart

Last major update issued on June 5, 2024 at 06:15 UT.

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 (May 1, 2024)
Solar cycle Solar cycles 23-25 (June 1, 2024) Historical solar and geomagnetic data charts 1954-2006 (April 5, 2007)
  Cycle 24-25 progress (June 1, 2024) Noon SDO sunspot count 1K image / 4K (*)
  Solar cycles 1-24 (July 1, 2020) POES auroral activity level [October 2009 - December 2012]
  Comparison of cycles 21-25 (June 1, 2024) 3rd SSN Workshop, Tucson, 2013
  Comparison of cycles 12-14, 16, 24-25 (June 1, 2024) 4th SSN Workshop, Locarno, 2014
  Solar polar fields vs. solar cycles (March 3, 2024) Cycle 25 spots (final update December 25, 2019)
  Solar cycles 24-25 transition using 365d smoothing Research: Solar Cycle 25 Started on November 17, 2019 with 365 Days Smoothing
Calculating the Strength of Solar Cycle 25 Using 365-day Smoothing

Recent activity

The geomagnetic field was at quiet to unsettled levels on June 4. The high latitude magnetometer at Andenes recorded quiet to unsettled levels. A weak disturbance was in progress all day. The above 10 MeV proton flux was at background levels at the end of the day.

Solar flux density measured at 20h UT on 2.8 GHz was 192.3 - decreasing 34.8 over the previous solar rotation. (Centered 1 year average SF at 1 AU - 183 days ago: 161.54. In comparison SC24 peaked on June 28, 2014 at 145.50. Current SC25 peak: 161.54 on December 5, 2023). The Potsdam WDC planetary A index was 6 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap indices: 6.0). Three hour interval K indices: 23221010 (planetary), 33322201 (Boulder), 13322221 (Andenes).

The background x-ray flux is at the class C2 level (GOES 16).

At the time of counting spots (see image time), spots were observed in 17 active regions using 2K resolution (SN: 373) and in 15 active regions using 1K resolution (SN: 262) SDO/HMI images.

Region 13691 [N26W73] decayed slowly and was mostly quiet.
Region 13695 [N27W53] gained a few spots and was mostly quiet.
Region 13697 [S18W18] decayed slowly. The region still has multiple magnetic delta configurations and further M class flaring is likely. C1 flares: C1.9 @ 01:32 UT
Region 13698 [N22W30] was mostly quiet and stable.
Region 13699 [N04W61] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 13700 [S04W78] was mostly quiet and stable.
Region 13701 [S06W11] was mostly quiet and stable.
Region 13702 [N17E44] was quiet and stable.
Region 13703 [S08E04] gained area and produced several C flares.
Region 13704 [S18E48] was quiet and stable.
Region 13705 [N19W61] decayed slowly and quietly.
New region 13706 [S12E28] emerged on June 3 and was numbered the next day by SWPC.

Spotted regions not observed (or interpreted differently) by SWPC/USAF:
S9750 [N22W58] decayed slowly and quietly.
S9769 [N09E57] was quiet and stable.
New region S9770 [N15E16] emerged with tiny spots.
New region S9771 [N32E38] was observed with tiny spots in an old plage area
New region S9772 [S05E40] emerged with a tiny spot.

Active regions are at or approaching the southeast limb. One of them was most likely the source of the full halo CME observed on June 1.

C2+ flares

Magnitude Peak time (UT) Location Source Recorded by Comment
C3.8 00:53 S03E05 13701 GOES16  
C2.9 02:04   S9750 GOES16  
C2.8 02:29   13697 GOES16  
C2.2 03:13   13702 GOES16  
C8.3 03:47   13697 GOES16  
C2.6 04:52   13703 GOES16  
C4.0 05:54   13697 GOES16  
M2.4/1N 06:31   13697 GOES16  
C5.7 08:08   13703 GOES16  
M1.6 09:04 S19W12 13697 GOES16  
C5.0 09:39   13697 GOES16  
C4.4 10:24   13697 GOES16  
C3.0 11:10   13697 GOES16  
C3.1 11:34   13697 GOES16  
C4.8 12:47 S17W04 13697 GOES16  
C3.3 14:00   13698 GOES16 simultaneous flare in AR 13702
C2.7 14:37   13697 GOES16  
C4.7 15:38   13691 GOES16  
C2.6 17:14   13697 GOES16  
C3.5 18:57 behind southeast limb   GOES16  
C3.1 20:53   13703 GOES16 simultaneous flare in AR 13697
C2.2 22:19   13701 GOES16  
C2.9 23:24   13703 GOES16  
C3.2 23:48   13703 GOES16  
C3.0 23:55   13703 GOES16  

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs)

June 2-4: No obviously Earth directed CME 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 positive polarity northern hemisphere coronal hole (CH1224) will rotate across the central meridian on June 4-5.

Propagation

Long distance low and medium frequency (below 2 MHz) propagation along paths north of due west over upper middle and high latitudes is poor. Propagation on long distance northeast-southwest paths is poor to fair.

Forecast

The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels on June 5-6 due to weak CME effects. Quiet conditions are likely on June 7. June 8-9 could see a few unsetttled or active intervals due to effects from CH1224-.

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
Magnetic
(SDO)
SWPC STAR Current Previous
2K 1K
13690 2024.05.23
2024.05.23
      N17W88          

location: N16W84

13691 2024.05.24
2024.05.25
4 5 5 N24W74 0020 CAO CRO

location: N26W73

area: 0030

13696 2024.05.25
2024.05.26
      N08W56          

location: N09W50

13694 2024.05.26       S12W82           location: S15W69
13695 2024.05.26
2024.05.26
3 6 5 N25W60 0020 CRO HRX

location: N27W53

13697 2024.05.27
2024.05.28
42 86 40 S18W20 0240 FAC FAC beta-gamma-delta

location: S18W18

area: 0340

S9750 2024.05.28   3 1 N22W58 0010   BXO  
13698 2024.05.28
2024.05.30
15 19 12 N22W30 0090 DSO DAO

area: 0270

13699 2024.05.31
2024.05.31
6 9 3 N04W61 0030 CAO CRO  
13701 2024.05.31
2024.06.01
14 21 14 S05W10 0050 DAO DAI

location: S06W11

area: 0130

13703 2024.05.31
2024.06.03
8 27 14 S07E04 0090 DAI DAI location: S08E04

area: 0390

13700 2024.06.01
2024.06.01
4 3 3 S06W78 0080 DAO EAO

area: 0420

S9760 2024.06.01       N11E12            
13702 2024.06.01
2024.06.02
1 1 1 N17E43 0020 HSX HSX

area: 0160

S9762 2024.06.01       S14E20            
13705 2024.06.02
2024.06.03
2 1 1 N17W61 0010 BXO AXX location: N19W61

area: 0003

13704 2024.06.02
2024.06.03
1 5 3 S18E50 0020 CRO CAO area: 0040

location: S18E48

S9766 2024.06.02       S21W36          
S9767 2024.06.02       S40E10            
13706 2024.06.03
2024.06.04
4 10 7 S12E28 0010 BXO CRO area: 0025
S9769 2024.06.03   2 1 N09E57 0005   AXX  
S9770 2024.06.04   2   N15E16 0004   BXO    
S9771 2024.06.04   2 2 N32E38 0006   AXX    
S9772 2024.06.04   1   S05E40 0001   AXX    
Total spot count: 104 203 112  
Sunspot number: 224 373 262  (total spot count + 10 * number of spotted regions)
Weighted SN: 150 250 159  (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): 246 205 210  

Monthly solar cycle data

Month Average solar flux International sunspot number
(WDC-SILSO)
Smoothed sunspot number (4) Average ap
(3)
Measured 1 AU
2014.02 170.3
(cycle peak)
166.3 146.1 (SC24 peak) 110.5 10.70
2014.04 143.9 144.8 112.5 116.4 (SC24 solar max) 7.88
2017.09 91.3 92.3 43.6 18.2 (-1.3) 18.22
(SC24 peak)
2019.11 70.2 68.7 0.5 2.0 (-0.6)
(Solar minimum using 365d smoothing:
November 17, 2019)
4.19
2019.12 70.8 68.6 1.6 1.8 (-0.2)
(ISN 13 months smoothed
solar minimum)
3.22
2022.10 133.5 132.7 95.5 98.9 (+2.4) 11.16
2022.11 123.4 120.7 80.5 101.2 (+2.3) 9.33
2022.12 147.9 143.4 112.8 106.7 (+5.5) 10.99
2023.01 182.4 176.6 144.4 113.3 (+6.6) 8.73
2023.02 167.2 163.2 111.3 117.8 (+3.5) 14.48
2023.03 157.2 155.6 123.3 121.1 (+3.3) 14.42
2023.04 145.4 146.4 97.6 122.9 (+1.8) 13.40
2023.05 155.6 159.2 137.4 124.2 (+1.3) 10.67
2023.06 161.7 166.8 160.5 125.3 (+1.1) 8.95
2023.07  176.4 182.2 160.0 124.4 (-0.9) 8.15
2023.08  153.7 157.6 114.8 124.1 (-0.3) 7.19
2023.09  154.4 156.0 134.2 123.9 (-0.2) 14.26
2023.10  142.8 141.9 99.4 124.8 (+0.9) 8.16
2023.11 153.5 150.2 105.4 127.8 (+3.0) 12.20
2023.12 151.1 146.4 114.2 (128.7 projected, +0.9) 9.60
2024.01 164.6 159.3 123.0 (127.0 projected, -1.7) 5.46
2024.02 172.5 168.3 124.7 (126.2 projected, -0.8) 5.31
2024.03 154.4 152.9 104.9 (125.6 projected, -0.6) 11.03
2024.04 161.3 162.6 136.5 (125.6 projected, -0.0) 9.69
2024.05 187.8 191.9 171.7 (SC25 peak) (126.7 projected, +1.1) 23.6
(current
SC25 peak)
2024.06 186.5 (1)   27.1 (2A) / 203.0 (2B) / 187.4 (2C) (125.9 projected, -0.8) (5.6)
2024.07       (124.2 projected, -1.7)  
2024.08       (122.2 projected, -2.0)  
2024.09       (121.0 projected, -1.2)  
2024.10       (119.6 projected, -1.4)  
2024.11       (114.5 projected, -5.1)  
2024.12       (109.1 projected, -5.4)  

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 30 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 April 28, 2024

The big increase in sunspot counts during the April 14-27 interval caused a major uptick in the smoothed SNs and solar flux. It's not yet clear when the next peak will be, anytime between October 28 and December 20, 2023 looks possible. The 365d smoothed solar flux exceeded the June 27 peak on October 28, while the 365d smoothed ISN and NOAA SN both exceeded the June 2023 peak in late October 2023. It should be noted that the current peak using 13-month smoothing is still in June 2023.

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This report has been prepared by Jan Alvestad. It is based on the analysis of data from whatever 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.