martedì 27 settembre 2011

SIDC Weekly Bulletin

:Issued: 2011 Sep 26 1515 UTC
:Product: documentation at http://www.sidc.be/products/bul
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# SIDC Weekly bulletin on Solar and Geomagnetic activity            #
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WEEK 560 from 2011 Sep 19 

SOLAR ACTIVITY
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The past week featured strong solar activity with continuous flaring at C-class level, 19 M-flares and 2 X-flares. During the course of the the week, the GOES X-ray background level increased from B to high C-level. The most prominent active regions on the solar disk were Catania 72 and 74 (NOAA AR 1295 and 1296), Catania 80 (NOAA AR 1301, Catania 82 (NOAA AR 1302) and Catania 83 (NOAA AR 1303).

The main events produced by Cat 74 were a C6.2 flare peaking at 07:37 on Monday Sept. 19, associated with type III radio bursts in Humain, and a C9.5 flare with peak time 05:13 UT on Sept. 20. Also Cat 72 and 80 were flickering with plenty of C-flares on Sept. 19 and 20. On Sept. 21, Cat 82 took over and produced the first M-flare of the week: an M1.8 flare peaking at 12:23. Together with Cat 72, this region kept the level of activity very high duringhthe following days. The main event on Sept. 22 was the X1.4 flare in Cat 82, peaking at 11:00 UT. This flare was associated with a type II shock in the Humain data around 10:40 UT, a global EUV-wave (e.g. in PROBA2/SWAP difference movies) and a strong CME. Three more M-flares occurred on Sept 23, originating from Cat 72 and Cat 82. The most active day of the week was without a doubt Sept. 24, when 8 M-flares occurred as well as an X1.9 flare with peak time 09:40 UT, which was associated with Type II and II radio bursts is Humai!
n and a EUV wave in PROBA2/SWAP. Once more, Cat 82 was responsible for this event. The M flares originated in Cat 72, Cat 82 and Cat 83. THe most prominent one was a long duration M7.1 flare in Cat 82 with peak time 13:17 UT, accompanied by a strong CME. Six more M-flares were observed on Sept. 25 in Cat 82 an 83, the largest one an M7.4 flare peaking at 04:50 UT in Cat 82, associated with an EUV wave.

The first CME of the week was observed on Sept 19, originated from CAT 80 (NOAA AR 1301) on the east limb, came into the SOHO/LASCO field of view at 12:42 UT and was not earth-directed. In the following days a multitude of CME's was observed with SOHO/LASCO. Comparison to the STEREO/COR2 data revealed that these were linked to events occurring of the far side of the Sun. On Sept 22, the X1.4 flare was associated with a large scale CME. STEREO-A and B spacecrafts imaged this event as halo CME. Due to the location of the source region on the east limb, this CME was not directed straight at Earth, but we were in line to receive a glancing blow from it on Sept. 25. Several CME's were observed on Sept. 24 and 25 related to the M- and X-class flaring on those days. The most important one was associated with the long duration M7.1 flare on Sept 24, coming into the STEREO/COR2 field of view at 13:10 UT. Its speed was estimated to be around 1100 km/s. As none of the source regions of!
  these CME's were at the center of the solar disk at the time of flaring, we expected possible glancing blows from these events.


GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY
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The proton flux measured by the GOES satellite has been rising since the long duration X flare event on Sept. 22, and increased further due to the numerous flares after this event. The >10MeV threshold was crossed just before midnight on Sept 23 and will remain elevated for the coming days. A shock was observed in the solar wind parameters measured by ACE around 11 UT this morning, probably related to the CME associated with the X flare on September 22. The total magnetic filed strength jumped to 10 nT, while the solar wind speed increased to 380 km/s. Geomagnetic conditions were quiet throughout the week: the Dourbes K-index never exceed the level of 3.


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DAILY INDICES
DATE          RC  EISN  10CM  Ak  BKG    M  X
2011 Sep 19  ///    093  141  003  B8.0  0  0
2011 Sep 20  121    083  144  006  B7.1  0  0
2011 Sep 21  110    076  144  004  C1.0  1  0
2011 Sep 22  111    072  151  006  C1.4  1  1
2011 Sep 23  107    056  158  003  C1.3  3  0
2011 Sep 24  ///    074  190  004  C1.6  8  1
2011 Sep 25  ///    080  169  005  C2.7  6  0
# RC  : Sunspot index (Wolf Number) from Catania Observatory (Italy)
# EISN : Estimated International Sunspot Number
# 10cm : 10.7 cm  radioflux (DRAO, Canada)
# Ak  : Ak Index Wingst (Germany)
# BKG  : Background GOES X-ray level (NOAA, USA)
# M,X  : Number of X-ray flares in M and X class, see below (NOAA, USA)
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NOTICEABLE EVENTS
DAY BEGIN MAX  END  LOC    XRAY OP TENCM TYPE                      Cat NOAA NOTE
21  1204  1223 1245        M1.8          VI/1                      82  1302
22  0953  1000 1009        M1.1                                    72  1302
22  1029  1101 1144        X1.4    970  II/2                      82  1302
23  0147  0159 0210 N25W63 M1.6 1N                                  72  1295
23  2154  2215 2234 N23W73 M1.6 SF 210  VI/1,III/1,CTM/1          82  1295
23  2348  2356 0004 N11E52 M1.9 SF 220  III/3,II/3                82  1302
24  0921  0940 0948 N12E60 X1.9 2B 660  II/2,IV/3,V/2,III/2        82  1302
24  1233  1320 1410        M7.1    12000                            82  1302
24  1636  1659 1715        M1.7          IV/1                          1295
24  1719  1725 1731        M3.1                                    82  1302
24  1759  1815 1824 N15E56 M2.8 1B                                  82  1302
24  1909  1921 1941        M3.0    270  III/2,II/2                82  1302
24  2029  2036 2042        M5.8                                    82  1302
24  2123  2127 2132 S29W67 M1.2 SF                                      1303
24  2345  2358 0009 S29W68 M1.0 SF      VI/2,IV/2                      1303
25  0227  0233 0237 N12E49 M4.4 SF                                  82  1302
25  0431  0450 0505 N11E47 M7.4 2N 150  IV/2                          1302
25  0846  0849 0852 N15E45 M3.1 1N                                      1302
25  0925  0935 0953        M1.5    250                                  1303
25  1526  1533 1538 N16E43 M3.7 2B 180  III/2                          1302
25  1651  1658 1709 S28W75 M2.2 SF                                      1302


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# Solar Influences Data analysis Center - RWC Belgium                #
# Royal Observatory of Belgium                                      #
# Fax : 32 (0) 2 373 0 224                                          #
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