September News 2011

1304 fading away today and has not passed the 24 hour rule and will not be counted yesterday. Some possible action approaching in the south?

1304 making a come back today but may not pass the 24 hour rule. F10.7 flux values falling quickly over the past 2 days.

1302 backing off somewhat today, with another new region in the north making the grade. The unipolar groups seem to be in favour.

1302 growing some more but all other regions on the decline. Some are getting carried away trying to talk up this cycle.

1302 now easily the largest group of SC24 with more expected growth to come. The northern hemisphere is continuing to dominate.

1302 now the largest group of SC24 eclipsing 1166 at 14807 pixels. The spike in F10.7 flux a short term effect of the X class flare.

1302 developing into a large group. September may prove to be a strong month when looking at the relative scale of this cycle.

1302 proving to be a large area with punch associated with an X class flare. Stereo B not revealing the true potential. I wonder why the Stereo program did not support a continuum (basic) image????

A new sunspot group which appears to have a reasonable chance of being another unipolar group if looking at the weak Stereo Behind image. If so the future F10.7 values will be interesting to watch.

A fair drop in activity today with only two groups counting. Once again there will be a large divergence between the LSC and the speck counters.

9 groups counting today with 2 new groups and 1 fading. Most of the groups are weak but still impressive compared with past activity.

8 groups counting on a day of elevated activity compared with recent times. F10.7 flux levels also rising to mild levels. The subdued ramp up continues.

9 groups counting today but only 1 group showing strength at this stage. The overall weakness of the groups telling the story but the numbers will look good.

2 new groups counting today. F10.7 flux on the rise.

Many specks dominate the face today, which will show a large variation between the LSC and the official counters. But this is the reason for the LSC, there are more specks during a solar grand minimum. 1289 returning to alpha/unipolar configuration.

A small overall decrease in area today. The mediocre SC5 type solar activity continues towards cycle max.

1289 continues to grow and has developed into a more complex group. There are 2 new groups with only 1 counting so far.

Overall area increasing again today but the F10.7 flux values continue to decline. Perhaps another example of negative sunspots doing their thing, but we have to remember the sun is a messy place.

1289 growing as it moves closer to a straight on view. The darkness ratio is showing some signs of a recovery. There was a spike of 152.4 on the F10.7 scale but now settling back to a low level.

1289 so far indicating another unipolar group, which can be weak & can have a negative impact on the F10.7 values. There will probably be a short term spike from the X class flare associated with 1283.

A small increase today spurred on by a new area rotating onto the face, this area is dim on Stereo B which quite often results in a unipolar group with low output.

1283 & 1287 growing today but all other areas are on the decline. Some new speck activity in the north. Stereo B looking quiet.

Overall area reducing but some new activity recorded. 1286 not counted as it will not last 24 hours.

The peak passing yesterday with only 1283 on the increase with 1277 just managing to scrape through today. Quieter tomorrow.

Swings and roundabouts today with yesterdays 6 regions counting again today. A new plage area has also rotated onto the face in the south.

F10.7 flux is starting rise to reasonable levels although still well down on the levels experienced during the first months of this year. Flux levels starting to fall into line when comparing this months SIDC values but not so when comparing NOAA.

A further pickup in overall activity from yesterday with 6 groups counting and another new group making the grade today. 1277/79 reducing in size but all other groups growing quickly. The DSN value moving up considerably.

The Layman's count for August should be available in the next 24-48 hours.