Sun

Sun activity: Even quieter sun

Posted by
C. Alex Young
and
Raúl Cortés
and
Armando Caussade
and
March 26, 2023
Brown globe with a lighter brown background around it, animated with brighter patches
Sun activity for March 26, 2023. A quieter sun but even then there is a lot of structure and many small scale things moving around. The quiet sun close to solar max is still not so quiet. The image is the GOES-16 SUVI instrument’s 195 angstrom wavelength. Image via NOAA and jhelioviewer.

Sun activity for March 26, 2023: Even quieter sun

Today’s top news: The past day’s sun has been even quieter than the day before. And, at the moment, we don’t see any large regions on the sun’s far side via helioseismology. But the quiet is deceptive, because we’re currently heading toward solar maximum, the peak of the sun’s 11-year cycle, in a few years. And – even while the sun overall is in an upswing of activity – periods of relative quiet aren’t unusual. As we continue on toward the peak of solar activity, around 2025, we’ll see more frequent periods of sun action. And those periods should themselves be more active. But we’ll also see quiet periods like the one we’re experiencing now. And remember … our local star is complex and dynamic. Large sunspot regions can form very quickly, and activity can pick up seemingly out of nowhere. So stay tuned! By the way, thanks to all who submitted aurora photos over this past great week for auroras! Look here for a selection of recent aurora photos, and please share if you have your own photos.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low with only one C flare, a C1.1 at 13:01 UTC from AR3258. There are seven labeled active regions on the Earth side of the sun today.
Next 24 hours: The forecast is for a 90% chance for C flares, a 10% chance for M flares, and a 1% chance for X flares.
Next expected CME: No Earth-bound CMEs were detected on available imagery.
Current geomagnetic activity: The current geomagnetic levels are quiet. A G1 (minor) storming is expected today due to high-speed solar wind from a coronal hole. Levels should be unsettled on March 27 – 28, 2023, as the effects of the coronal hole begin to wane.

The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (6 UTC on March 26, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA SDO. Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky. Today’s sun is posted by Armando Caussade. Why are east and west on the sun reversed?

Sun activity for March 25, 2023: After the storm, a calm

Sun activity has been low over the past day (our “day” ends at 11 UTC, and starts at 11 UTC the previous day). But we saw jets and exploding filaments and prominences on the solar disk during the last 24 hours. Take a look at our top animation. Some of those blasts are CME producers, now under analysis to determine any possible Earth-oriented component. Meanwhile, at Earth, we returned to a calm G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm level. Still … wow! The past day featured G4 (severe) geomagnetic storming, 8 on the Kp scale. And there were beautiful auroral displays across the high- to mid-latitudes. We saw reports of auroras witnessed as far south in northern latitudes as Phoenix and Los Angeles in the U.S. Before yesterday, the most recent G4 (severe) storm dates back to September 9, 2017, when G4 and G5 geomagnetic storms occurred. Thanks to all who submitted aurora photos! Look here for a selection of photos from yesterday’s auroral displays. And stay tuned for more sun news.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity has been low during the past day with only C flares, six in total. The largest was a C2.2, which exploded from AR3259 at 13:40 UTC on March 24. There are seven labeled active regions on the Earth side of the sun today. We have a newcomer on the northeast limb (edge) numbered AR3264. And there is an unnumbered region that emerged north of AR3259.

March 25, 2023. Sun activity is low. But this image shows jets, exploding filaments and prominences.
March 25, 2023: Despite the low-level sun activity, we’re seeing filaments exploding, jets and prominences all around the solar disk. GOES-16 SUVI image via NOAA.
March 24, 2023 Sun activity showing zoomed in prominences and jets.
March 24, 2023, sun activity: Zoomed-in detail on the jets, prominences and exploding filaments we were seeing despite of the low level of flaring. GOES-16 SUVI image via NOAA.
September 9, 2017 NOAA alert for a G4 geomagnetic storm.
Note the date! September 9, 2017 NOAA alert for a G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm. That was the last G4 storm before the one we had this week. Image via NOAA.
The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (6 UTC on March 26, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA SDO. Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky. Today’s sun is posted by Armando Caussade. Why are east and west on the sun reversed?

Sun activity for March 24, 2023: BAM! Big night for auroras last night!

Sun activity is low. But wow! What a night for auroras last night! We received a surprising G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm. This unexpected storm started yesterday with a G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm at 14:40 UTC on March 23. After that, Earth’s magnetic field was disturbed for more than 21 continuous hours over the past day. It peaked at G4 (severe) at 4:16 UTC on March 24. Here’s the breakdown of what happened:
First G3 (strong) hit at 14:49 UTC on March 23
G2 (moderate) reached at 19:42 UTC on March 23
G3 (strong) reached at 23:54 UTC on March 23
G3 (strong) at 1:55 UTC on March 24
G3 (strong) at 3:44 UTC on March 24
G4 (severe) reached at 4:16 UTC on March 24
G3 (strong) reached at 9:01 UTC on March 24
This G3-G4 geomagnetic disturbance reached northern latitudes as far south as the U.S. states of Colorado and Wyoming, and to Denmark and the Faroe Islands in Europe. It was all due to the effect of the reported co-rotating interaction region, arrival of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from March 20-21, and high-speed coronal wind from a coronal hole. All this combined made a highly disturbed solar wind environment that found its way to hit Earth’s magnetic field. It was surprising not only for its strength, but also for its duration: more than 21 continuous hours so far. And it’s still going!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity has been low during the last 24 hours. We saw seven faint flares over the past day, seven B class and two C class flares. The largest was a C1.7 flare at 6:07 UTC on March 24 from region AR3259. The sun has five numbered active regions today.

March 23, 2023 Auroral displays over Canada.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sun activity is low in the 24-hour period leading up to 11 UTC on March 24. But last night was amazing for auroras! Sheryl R Garrison in Southern Alberta, Canada, captured this image overnight and wrote: “What an incredible night of auroras! We don’t often get overhead lights at this latitude. I was all set up to shoot a landscape with some foreground interest – frozen puddles and tracks on a still-frozen lake – when the action erupted overhead. Thanks, EarthSky, for posting the heads-up. Tonight it was exactly that!” Thank you, Sheryl. Beautiful! Will tonight be a repeat of last night’s amazing auroral display? Read on …

Sun activity for March 23, 2023: Moderate magnetic storming expected tonight

Sun activity is low today. But on Earth, auroras are ready to rock and roll! NOAA’s forecasters issued an alert for geomagnetic storms G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) starting at 18 UTC today (March 23, 2023), and extending to 6 UTC on March 24. That means we can expect geomagnetic disturbances in both Europe and the U.S. at northerly latitudes tonight. Northern U.S. states such as Maine and Montana are on the list, and Europe may see auroras as far south as Reykjavik, Oslo, and Stockholm. As we wait for the excitement at Earth, we’re watching that gigantic filament crossing almost the entire northwest quadrant on the sun. And, as there was yesterday, there was another eclipse from space today. But this time it was Earth’s shadow covering the sun from the viewpoint of the NOAA GOES-16 spacecraft (see our image below). Satellites see solar eclipses due to Earth’s shadow more often than it sees eclipses by the moon … because Earth’s shadow is so much bigger than the moon. In fact, a low Earth-orbiting spacecraft, like NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has an Earth-eclipse season lasting a few weeks twice a year.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low. We saw 12 C flares over the past day. The largest was a C2.6 flare at 19:57 UTC on March 22 from region AR3259. AR3259 is the lead flare producer. The sun has six numbered active regions. We have a newcomer on the southeast limb (edge) numbered AR3262.

March 23, 2023 Sun nearly half eclipsed by the earth's shadow, with a giant filament labelled on the opposite side.
March 23, 2023. Once again while observing a large filament on the northwest quadrant, having yesterday seen the moon this time we see the Earth’s shadow as it passes between the sun and the spacecraft GOES-16 SUVI. AIA 304 Angstroms. Image via NOAA.

Sun activity for March 22, 2023: A solar eclipse from space

We at EarthSky were watching a giant filament in the sun’s northern hemisphere this morning with NOAA’s GOES-16 SUVI instrument. Oops! What was that? It’s the moon! GOES saw a partial solar eclipse from space. It happened at around 1:29 UTC on March 22. GOES-16 is a powerful weather satellite. It usually looks at western North America (including Alaska and Hawaii). But it has solar observing capabilities, too. That – plus its distance from Earth of 22,000 miles (34,000 km) – let us capture this morning’s special moment. In fact, the sun, Earth, and moon are nearing the special geometry that will allow us on Earth to see an eclipse, too. On April 20, 2023, those in Timor-Leste and Indonesia (West Papua and Papua) and the tip of Australia will experience a hybrid solar eclipse. Parts of the eclipse path on Earth will see an annular eclipse. And parts of the eclipse path on Earth will see a total eclipse.
Last 24 hours: Turning heads back to our sun, sun activity is low today. Eight C flares were observed. The largest was a C4.6 at 13:53 UTC on March 21, from AR3257. The sun has five numbered active regions.

March 22, 2023 GOES-16 images show the moon passing by, overlapping a small lower portion of the sun.
Sun activity for March 22, 2023, is low. But from its perspective in orbit – some 22,000 miles (35,000 km) from Earth – the GOES-16 satellite captured the moon trying to eclipse the sun earlier today. GOES-16 SUVI image via NOAA.

Sun activity for March 21, 2023: Equinoxes and aurora season

Sun activity is low. But the March equinox arrived at 21:24 UTC (4:24 p.m. CDT) yesterday. So it’s aurora season! For over a century, scientists have noted an increase in auroras around the time of the March and September equinoxes. Modern scientists most often describe it as the Russell-McPherron effect, a physical connection between the geometry of Earth’s magnetic field and the magnetic field carried to Earth from the sun by the solar wind. And indeed we’ve had some nice geomagnetic activity over the past week (see image above). And we had auroras last night from Europe to Alaska (see tweets below). Read more about aurora season, and stay tuned for aurora alerts!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low, with only nine C flares. The largest flare was a C4.4 at 15:34 UTC on March 20, from an unnumbered active region on the northeast close to AR3258. There are six numbered active regions on the sun.

Bright, green, sky-encompassing aurora.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sun activity is low on March 21, 2023. But aurora season kicked off a week ago for Vivien Tavares who was visiting Selfoss, Iceland. Vivien wrote on March 14: “Taken from my phone on the parking lot of Borealis Hotel in Selfoss … It was a 360° aurora!” Thank you, Vivien!

For more details, visit our Sun Glossary

Sun activity for March 20, 2023: Large coronal hole

Happy equinox! Two coronal holes are in the southern hemisphere. The high-speed solar wind has already started to buffet Earth from the smaller one. The larger one will be in a geoeffective position in a few days. This means that it will soon be in the prime position for its high-speed solar wind to sweep past Earth. High-speed streams of solar wind can rattle the geomagnetic field when it blows past Earth. This can induce geomagnetic storms with enhanced aurora and the larger coronal hole could have a larger impact in a few days. We are also waiting for a glancing blow from a coronal mass ejection (CME) caused by a March 17, 2023, filament eruption. This could boost any geomagnetic activity from the coronal holes giving a better chance for geomagnetic storming and more aurora.
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is moderate. The largest flare was an M1.3 at 2:10 UTC on March 20 from AR3256. There were eight C flares in the past 24 hours. We are waiting for newer regions on the eastern limb (edge) to rotate into view. They may bring increased activity including possible CMEs that could enhance the blowing solar wind. There are five numbered active regions on the sun today.

Pink globe label with coronal holes and dark areas outlined in yellow
Sun activity for March 20, 2023. There are currently two coronal holes visible on the solar disk in the SDO 211 angstrom wavelength. Image via SDO.

For more details, visit our Sun Glossary

Sun activity for March 19, 2023: Filament fun

Sun activity is low. But the sun doesn’t know that! Over the past several days, it has been throwing off a flurry of filaments. Two erupted from the southwest limb (edge) over the last half of March 18, 2023. Both events created coronal mass ejections (CMEs), but given their location neither will have a brush with Earth. We mostly think of solar activity in terms of erupting sunspot regions. But, for some excitement, we shouldn’t count out filament eruptions. They’re not usually the fastest of the CME events. But when an erupting filament is over an active region, the action is often kicked up a notch. We will see more of these crazy combos of filaments over active regions as we approach solar maximum, when the sun builds up more magnetic energy that it needs to shed. Stay tuned!
Last 24 hours: Sun activity is low. There were 12 C flares. The largest was a C4.5 at 6:41 UTC from AR3256. There are six numbered active regions on the sun.

Bottom left quarter of a orange globe - animated with structures coming off the bottom left
Sun activity for March 19, 2023. Here are 2 large filaments erupting off the sun’s southeast limb (edge). They’re captured in 304 angstroms, with a negative image, from the NOAA SUVI instrument on the GOES spacecraft. Image via NOAA/SUVI

The sun in recent days

The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (7 UTC on March 25, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA/ SDO. Courtesy of NASA/ SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky.
The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (4 UTC on March 24, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA/ SDO. Courtesy of NASA/ SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky.
The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (2 UTC on March 23, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA/ SDO. Courtesy of NASA/ SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky.
The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (22 UTC on March 21, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA/ SDO. Courtesy of NASA/ SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky.
The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (6 UTC on March 21, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA/ SDO. Courtesy of NASA/ SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky.
The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (3 UTC on March 20, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA/ SDO. Courtesy of NASA/ SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky.
The sun, seen as a yellow sphere with dark spots.
This image shows sun activity – with the most active regions labeled – as of (7 UTC on March 19, 2023). Original image, without labels, via NASA/ SDO. Courtesy of NASA/ SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, with labeling by EarthSky.

Images from our community

We invite you all to send us your beautiful recent photos of sunspots and auroras. Naturally, we love receiving your photos! And to those of you who’ve already posted a photo to our community page, thank you.

Submit photos here

View community photos here

Aurora borealis: Green and red curtains of light with vertical filaments.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Patrick Stonehouse in Wolverine, Michigan, captured this photo on March 23, 2023, and wrote “The auroras are very colorful tonight over Northern Michigan, pulsating in waves at the zenith.” Thank you, Patrick!
The sun, seen as a large orange sphere with a mottled surface.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mario Rana in Hampton, Virginia, captured this filtered image on March 21, 2023, and wrote: “Hydrogen-alpha image of the sun featuring active regions AR3256, AR3257, and AR3260.” Thank you, Mario!
The sun, seen as a large white sphere with small dark spots.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Patricio León in Santiago, Chile, captured this filtered image of the sun on March 21, 2023. He wrote: “The eastern half of this first [southern hemisphere’s] autumn sun presents three well-developed sunspots; the bigger one, AR3256, measures about 2.5 x 2.5 Earths, big enough to be seen with a protected unaided eye.” Thank you, Patricio!

Bottom line: Sun activity for March 26, 2023. The calm continues, as we wait for the next round of excitement from our star. It never ceases to surprise us.

Posted 
March 26, 2023
 in 
Sun

C. Alex Young

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About the Author:
C. Alex Young is a solar astrophysicist studying the Sun and space weather. Alex is passionate about sharing science with diverse audiences. This led him to start The Sun Today with his designer wife, Linda. First through Facebook and Twitter then adding an extensive website thesuntoday.org, the two work together to engage the public about the Sun and its role in our solar system. Alex led national engagement efforts for the 2017 total solar eclipse. He is the Associate Director for Science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Raúl Cortés

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About the Author:
Raúl Cortés studied engineering at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Monterrey, Mexico, obtained a scholarship to continue his studies in Japan and after returning to Monterrey he got credits on MBA from the Graduate School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Faculty. He became a teacher at the University UANL teaching Math and Physics and dedicated the rest of his professional career to serve in engineering areas for USA, Japan and Germany based corporations. His passion for the skies go back to when he was a child, always intrigued about the stars and constellations and reading and researching about the matter. From 2010 on, he dedicated his attention to photographing the stars, constellations, the moon and the sun. Raúl's work on his photography has been published and posted on the ESC as well as in other platforms and has gained attention to be published by local Monterrey newspapers.

Armando Caussade

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About the Author:
Armando is well known as an astronomy educator, after 30+ years leading extensive initiatives of public outreach and 10+ years teaching in colleges. As one of only a handful of Puerto Rican science communicators during Comet Halley's last visit, he assumed a pioneering role starting in 1985 when science was just beginning to enter the local mindset; over time his work brought meaningful change to the culture, inspiring people to pursue interests in science and technology. His affiliations include Ana G. Méndez University–Cupey, where in 2014 he spearheaded an 8-course extension program focusing on observational astronomy, the first ever in the island.

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