April News

2010/04/30 05:37 The last day of April cranks over...and what a month it was. 21 spotless days in a row which was last eclipsed by October with 23 spotless days (not continuous). The early hype for this cycle has retreated with most not game to bet on May. NOAA and those who support their count looking decidedly desperate this month?

 The thin blue line should end up between 2 & 4 this month.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 77.9 and a low of 77.3 for yesterday, a slight upward trend.

2010/04/29 12:24 (GONG) SOHO still updating but very sparse. Today NOAA named a new region 1063, this area barely made 3 pixels for a few hours and so far is a non counter according to the Layman's rules. This is a good example of biased science gone wrong. We are now solidly into 20 spotless days and counting. I am looking forward to this months update.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 77.2 and a low of 77.1 for yesterday, a modest uptick.

2010/04/28 10:04 (GONG) Plage is the new black?...It would seem that way lately as we enter the 19th day in a row spotless. SOHO will be offline for a few days as they perform the necessary 6 month maintenance. The good news is funding for SOHO continues to the end of 2012, providing a good backup for SDO.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.5 and a low of 75.7 for yesterday, holding steady again.

2010/04/27 05:29  Day 18 once again looking strong. The rest of the world is 5 days behind the Layman's Count clinging on to microspots in an attempt to persuade us all that the cycle is behaving as normal.

The high latitude plage area is now showing signs of being of normal polarity, with a hint of a dark region preceding.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 77.0 and a low of 75.8 for yesterday, once again a slight rise.

2010/04/26 01:29  Day 17 looking strong, GONG images taken 11 hours later showing no spot activity. But there is some interesting activity. At a very high latitude in the north on Stereo B there is a region that is just coming onto the face...its too early to call but there is a chance this region could be reversed polarity.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.4 and a low of 75.1 for yesterday, a slight rise.

2010/04/25 12:14  Day 16 in progress, SOHO has not updated from yesterday but all is clear on the GONG network. The region in the south remaining as a plage. The world is starting to take notice, there have been a lot of referrer links to this site today from unexpected places.

Stereo B showing what appears to be the remnants of Region 1 about to come onto the face.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 75.4 and a low of 74.9 for yesterday, holding steady.

2010/04/24 01:12 April has 30 days, so far 15 are spotless, the SC24/SC5 comparison graph will continue to draw attention. The blue line expected to fall back sharply.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 75.8 and a low of 74.7 for yesterday, showing a substantial drop.

The solar wind remaining low, next months coronal holes might be lacking?

2010/04/23 09:29 The spotless count continues, we are moving into a solid day 14 with not much on the horizon at present. Not too much coverage or comment to be seen during this rather severe slowdown in activity, if this form continues for another week we may hear some rumblings?

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.9 and a low of 76.5 for yesterday, virtually no change.

2010/04/22 09:29 The new specks on the plage area that is probably Region 3 have failed to grow so far, the spotless run entering the 13th day. Going on past form there is not much to get excited about. April might be a big relapse if this level of activity continues. 

The SDO continuum images released today are mock ups, hopefully there will be much better detail on the way.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.9 and a low of 76.6 for yesterday, gaining a little ground.

2010/04/21 09:14 Moving into the 12th day of this spotless run, there are a few specks forming amongst the large plage area as the region progresses further onto the face. At present the magnetic strength not looking strong.

The SDO images are almost here, the Layman's Count will move to a new level of accuracy. I am looking forward to cross calibrating with SOHO.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.1 and a low of 75.8 for yesterday, remaining around the same.

2010/04/20 02:40 Surprisingly the run continues into the 11th day. GONG updates at 10:54 also showing only plage activity from the expected Region 3 that is coming into view. We have seen large regions form from a similar start so patience is key. The April count is looking down the barrel though.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.1 and a low of 75.4 for yesterday, still heading up slightly.

2010/04/19 07:06  Now heading into 10 days straight, but a strong suggestion some activity is imminent. Region 3 may prove to be the first recurring region to attain 4 good pixel counts. The first patches of plage are now appearing with nothing to report so far.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 75.3 and a low of 74.5 for yesterday, now heading up slightly.

2010/04/18 07:35  April now running at 9 days spotless if this day finishes without action. There is a good chance of some activity within the next 2 days.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 74.5 and a low of 73.5 for yesterday, once again on the way down.

2010/04/17 13:24 Day eight looking very likely which will break last months continuous run, Jan & Feb did not see spotless runs like these and had big regions in the north with the south firing as well to some degree. What looks like Region 3 is returning in a few days (need to check longitude) along with something on the horizon for the south.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 75.4 and a low of 74.3 for yesterday, edging up a little from yesterday.

2010/04/16 07:48  Spotless day 7 is well underway, but how long will this run go?

There is some activity about to come onto the face, most of this activity is in the north which suggests more chance of making the grade. There is also some action in the south at a similar longitude that might surprise.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 75.0 and a low of 74.1 for yesterday, edging lower.

2010/04/15 09:03  April may prove to be an interesting month. March had a run of 7 days spotless with another day on its own making 8. So far we are half way through with 6 days spotless and lower activity than March.

Stereo B shows a returning region that might pack some punch in a week from now.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 75.6 and a low of 74.2 for yesterday which is remaining static.

2010/04/14 08:38  Another spotless day racks up making a nice run of 5 days so far, 1062 tried again today to form but has since faded.

Going on the past two months we should expect a substantial group to form soon?

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.6 and a low of 74.8 for yesterday which is showing an upward trend from yesterday. Perhaps a sign of things to come?

2010/04/13 08:49  We are well into our 4th spotless day in a row, NOAA predicatively calling the new speck region 1062 which via the Layman's count has not made the grade. The south continues so show little strength.

Nothing major on the Stereo B images, there is a good chance this spotless streak might last.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 74.9 and a low of 73.9 for yesterday.

2010/04/12 02:07  A new region is trying to form in the south with another region nearby also trying to form, both look weak in the magnetogram at present. The largest that will probably get a NOAA number tomorrow currently measures 24 pixels but was stronger several hours ago suggesting a fading perhaps. The 24 hour rule will be tested.

We are getting close to halfway through April with no real activity. The next 2 weeks will be telling.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 74.6 and a low of 74.3 for yesterday.

2010/04/11 07:54  A few specks over the last 24 hours have surfaced but since retreated. There is some mild activity on Stereo B which may be worth watching in the next few days. A new region can also appear in a matter of hours.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.6 and a low of 75.0 for yesterday.

The solar wind dropping back to very low.

2010/04/10 08:15  Nothing to count so far today..GONG also showing no activity.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.3 and a low of 75.7 for yesterday. Stereo B has small activity in the north with something growing in the south. Last month we had 7 spotless days in a row, if April can improve it will tell a story.

The solar wind now falling back to the status quo.

2010/04/09 05:24  1061 just above the cut off point and might not see this day out. The pixel reading at 25 with a darkness ratio of 60% which is perhaps bolstered by the viewing angle.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 77.0 and a low of 75.5 for yesterday, once again getting close to solar minimum levels.

There is a good chance we might go spotless tomorrow. :)

2010/04/08 08:56  1061 on its last legs measuring 52 pixels. The darkness ratio now a miserable 38%. Activity needing a boost big time to regain the ground of months past. Nothing else making the grade today.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 76.6 and a low of 76.2 for yesterday, continuing the drought..

The big news today is......

A new Recurring Region 3 found today, see the Recurring Regions Table.

2010/04/07 06:58  1060 is still below the grade and now measures 15 pixels, so far this region has not been counted by the Layman's Count. 

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 78.6 and a low of 76.7 for yesterday, heading back on the way down again.

 2010/04/07 06:58 1061 reducing a fair percentage down to 98 pixels. The darkness ratio also dropping a reasonable amount to 59%. There is some more very minor speck activity in the north that might be worth watching.

The solar wind hanging around 600 km/s which is higher than the average lately. 

A new Region 3 found today, see the Recurring Regions Table.

2010/04/06 06:39  SOHO has recovered and requires no adjustments. 1060 is below the grade and now measures 19 pixels, the 24 hour rule will need to be checked.1059 has faded to zero. The Layman's count will be very different today from the other counting methods.The northern hemisphere continuing to show dominance with the overall trend feeling on the downslope so far this month. The Carrington Longitude measuring 176

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 79.3 and a low of 78.9 for yesterday, showing a minor uptick.

 2010/04/06 06:39 1061 appearing fast in the north and growing to 158 pixels. The darkness ratio starting at an impressive 67%.

The solar wind dropping back quickly as expected from the Region 1 remnant hot spot that may now be expired. Decaying regions being a boom for the solar wind. The Carrington Longitude at 232

Stereo Behind not showing strong activity but the not so bright areas lately can still prove productive.

2010/04/04 20:48  The current SOHO Continuum images seem to be suffering a problem that prohibits accurate pixel testing via the Layman's method. To counteract the washed out images I have adjusted the hue/saturation and light values to replicate the old values as close as possible. While not prefect it will allow the count to continue while SOHO sort out their problems (if possible).

The adjustments will remain constant at -4 hue, 100 saturation and -27 lightness. New area 1060 measures 30 pixels and is too early to measure the darkness ratio.

 2010/04/04 20:48 1059 has decayed to 2 pixels. There is also a small speck in the northern hemisphere at the meridian that measures 2 pixels.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 78.4 and a low of 77.4 for today. 

The solar wind climbing to a real high of around 800 km/s, coinciding with a deep coronal hole rut that stretches almost from pole to pole. The Carrington longitude being the same as Recurring Region 1 in the north and region 1059 in the south.

2010/04/01 08:41  1057 now measuring 226 pixels and the darkness ratio is an impressive 74%. The monthly mean figures are in: NOAA - 24.7, SIDC - 15.4 and the Layman's count at 11.4. There was a lot of weeding this month with sunspots 1052, 1053 & 1058 not recognized. March coming in lower than January.

The adjusted F10.7 flux figures recorded a high of 79.1 and a low of 77.3 for today, which is surprisingly low considering the dark regions.

2010/04/01 08:41   1059 now at 102 pixels. The darkness ratio raising slightly to 59%. The solar wind on a small rise and not much activity spotted on Stereo B.

The current trend is firmly in the north, which is not uncommon, the last time we saw this type of dominance was SC20 according to the SIDC. SC20 was a low cycle....this one should be much lower.

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