news
Submitted on 2014-01-16
Without a doubt, the big and complex sunspot group NOAA 1944 was the talk of the week. During its transit over the solar disk (1-14 January), it produced 1 X- and 7 M-class solar flares. Here we will deal with some of the more enigmatic aspects of the group's size and the X-class flare it produced.
1. Was NOAA 1944 the largest sunspot group so far this solar cycle?
Submitted on 2014-01-09
This promising letter arrived at the STCE’s Public Outreach Office on 1 January. It reads:
The Sun apparently wants to keep its New Year's resolutions. Indeed, on the very first day of the year it produced a great prominence eruption, a very strong solar flare, and one of the largest sunspot groups so far this solar cycle. This can be seen in this movie.
Submitted on 2014-01-02
During 2013, long stretches of solar inactivity alternated with brief spurts of high flaring activity levels. The periods of solar calm featured numerous filament and prominence eruptions, with so many spectacular events they could easily fill this review. There were 12 X-class solar flares, almost as many as 2011 and 2012 combined. Yet, only 5 sunspot regions were responsible for these extreme explosions on the Sun, and most of them took place during the latter part of 2013.
Submitted on 2013-12-19
On December 8 and 13, something particularly interesting happened in the solar wind: ACE in situ solar wind data showed a shock and both times the shock was driven by a coronal hole. Shocks driven by a coronal mass ejection are common. But this was shocking news.
Fast catches up with slow
Submitted on 2013-12-13This news item was created by the P2SC-team and is available here.
Submitted on 2013-11-29
This news item was written by Dan Seaton and the P2SC-team.
Comet ISON raced past the Sun on November 28, but left no clues about its structure — or the structure of the solar corona — for extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) telescopes like SWAP that had been turned towards the unique comet in the hope of capturing images of its passage through perihelion.
Submitted on 2013-11-13
Last week, the Sun produced 3 X-class solar flares. "X" is short for "eXtreme", which means these flares are very strong. These X-class flares were produced by the complex and big sunspot group NOAA 1890. Pictures underneath were made by Belgian amateur solar observers on 9 November and give a good view on the extent and complexity of this sunspot group.
Submitted on 2013-11-06
Every year, many companies organize activities for their personnel in order to have some fun and to strengthen the team spirit. Late October, some sunspot groups got the same idea. However, their idea of a fun team-building activity was quite different: Together, they wanted to destroy a nearly million km long solar filament. This spectacular movie reveals how they did it.
Submitted on 2013-10-31
No, Beta-Gamma-Delta (BGD) is not some high-school prom reunion, but one of the possible magnetic classifications of a sunspot group. These classifications play a major role in determining whether or not a sunspot group is up to significant flare activity.
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